A new federal policy that could require thousands of immigrants to return to their home countries before petitioning for green cards has applicants and immigration lawyers scrambling to to understand how the change will affect the path to permanent residence.

一项新的联邦政策或将要求成千上万移民先返回原籍国，才可递交绿卡申请。申请者与移民律师正急切地设法了解该变动会对永久居留申请流程造成何种影响。

On Friday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that oversees the green card system, said that only in “extraordinary circumstances” would people already in the United States be granted permanent residence. Otherwise, anyone seeking permanent U.S. residence would need to apply at an American consulate in their home country.

上周五，负责监管绿卡系统的美国公民及移民服务局表示，只有在“特殊情况下”，才会批准已身处美国境内的申请人获得永久居留权。除此之外，所有申请美国永久居留的人员均须在本国境内的美国领事馆提交申请。

Immigration lawyers and advocacy organizations said over the weekend that the change would reduce green card applications. In 2024, 1.4 million green cards were issued, and more than 800,000 of the recipients were already in the United States and had their immigration status modified as part of the process.

移民律师与维权机构周末称，此项变化将导致绿卡申请数量下降。2024年全美共发放140万张绿卡，其中超80万名获批者原本就在美国境内，并作为流程的一部分更改了其移民身份。

The change announced on Friday will be of particular concern to those who are married to U.S. citizens and seeking permanent residence, said Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer and the former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Such immigrants typically need to resolve their own immigration status before seeking a green card and they have generally been able sort out those issues while remaining in the United States.

美国移民律师协会前会长、移民律师查尔斯·库克表示，周五宣布的这一政策变动对那些与美国公民结婚并寻求永久居留权者来说影响尤为显著。此类移民通常需要在申请绿卡前解决自身的移民身份问题，而此前他们往往可以在居留美国的同时处理这些问题。

“This is simply an attempt to slow immigration,” Mr. Kuck said, “and make immigration so unpleasant that you go home.”

“这纯粹是为了拖延移民进程，”库克说，“并且让移民生活变得非常不愉快，以至于你不得不回国。”

Zach Kahler, a spokesman for the agency, said on Friday that the policy would remove a loophole where immigrants “slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency.”

移民局发言人扎克·卡勒周五表示，该政策旨在堵住漏洞，杜绝移民在“居留申请被拒后，隐入暗处并继续非法滞留美国”。

The memo notes that allowing immigrants to remain in the country while their green card applications are processed, “is a matter of discretion and administrative grace.”

该备忘录指出，允许申请人在绿卡审核期间留居美国“属于酌情处理和行政宽容的范畴”。

Efrén Olivares, the vice president of litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center, said the new policy is about disrupting the green card process.

全美移民法律中心诉讼与法律战略副总裁埃弗伦·奥利瓦雷斯认为，新政策意在扰乱绿卡审批流程。

“It’s going to upend people’s lives in every sense of the word,” he said.

他表示：“这将在各个层面上打乱人们的生活。”

Most applicants have been allowed to remain in the United States with their families, which can include spouses and children who are U.S. citizens, while the green card process plays out. But now remaining in the country, may be the exception. In the past, Mr. Olivares said, someone may have been asked to apply from their home country in extraordinary circumstances, like if they had been deported several times or if they had a serious criminal history.

在绿卡申请流程进行期间，大多数申请人一直被允许与家人（包括身为美国公民的配偶和子女）一同留在美国，如今境内申请将成为特例。奥利瓦雷斯介绍，过去，只有在特殊情况下，例如申请人曾多次被驱逐出境或有严重犯罪记录时，才会被要求回国申请。

Approval for permanent residency through a U.S. citizen relative can vary depending on the relationship, Mr. Olivares said. For a spouse, the waiting period could be about a year; for siblings it can take upward of five years; and for parents, it could take as long as a decade.

奥利瓦雷斯表示，依托美国公民亲属关系申请永久居留的审批时间长度视亲属关系远近有所区别。配偶申请周期约一年，兄弟姐妹可能需要五年以上，父母申请可能长达十年。

Several immigrants, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said on Saturday that they were confused and worried about what this change could mean for their own applications or those of their partners.

几位因担心遭到报复而要求匿名接受采访的移民周六表示，对于这一变化给自己或伴侣的申请前景带来的影响，他们感到迷茫焦虑。

After the announcement, an Albanian woman with a green card said she called her fiancé, who lives in Italy, trying to figure out what the change meant for them. The woman received a green card in 2022 through the lottery system, but her fiancé is expected to come to the United States this year on a work visa. She said they are now hiring an immigration lawyer to help figure out how to proceed.

政策公布后，一名2022年通过抽签获得绿卡的阿尔巴尼亚女性表示，她致电居住在意大利的未婚夫讨论这一变化对他们意味着什么。她的未婚夫原定今年持工作签证赴美，她表示，如今二人已聘请移民律师，协助制定后续方案。

The impact of this change may not be immediately visible, but will be strongly felt, said Karla Ostolaza, the managing director of the immigration practice at the Bronx Defenders, a public defense nonprofit.

非营利性公共辩护组织“布朗克斯辩护人”的移民业务主管卡拉·奥斯托拉扎表示，这一政策改变的影响不会立刻显现，但后续冲击会逐步凸显。

“They will stay in the shadows, remain without status and vulnerable to exploitation, and fence off any better opportunities to obtain status, even if they’re completely eligible,” she said.

“他们会隐匿生活、处于无合法身份状态，极易遭受剥削，即便自身完全符合条件，也会错失合法获取居留身份的机会，”她说。