US Green Card Bombshell: Domestic Filings Restricted

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Shifting our focus to the West now, viewers. You see, under a new USCIS mandate, most applicants can no longer upgrade to permanent residency from inside the United States. Instead, they must pack up and head back to their home countries for consular processing.

[00:00:14]That's right. Now, for the Indian community, including techies, students, and even individuals with extraordinary abilities, everyone is in a state of total disarray. What's worse, with families also caught between single intent visa traps and sudden travel bans. Meanwhile, joining us now to break down the legal fallout is the managing partner of Wildes and Weinberg and former federal prosecutor Michael Wildes. Michael, thank you so much for taking out the time. Really appreciate it. My first question to you is you know, your firm famously represents high-profile clients, but everyday Indian tech workers on an say on an F-1 or an H-1 or even students and families, they are panicking. Realistically, how difficult will it be for them to even qualify for the economic benefit exemption to at the end avoid being forced out of the country?

[00:01:04]>> Thank you for having me. Um right now, the bar is in a panic and our clients are even more uh concerned.

[00:01:13]>> Right.

[00:01:14]>> Students who have overstayed visas, people who came in on visitor visas or even ESTA countries that um are participating in this kind of program who marry American citizens who typically were given um a pass on their trespass >> Right.

[00:01:33]>> are now concerned. Uh the truth is, for about 70 years, the government allowed individuals to adjust status, which means change from a temporary to a permanent one domestically in the United States. That is now going to stop is what USCIS is saying. Well, I don't think so. I think it would take an act of Congress uh to make that happen. This is posturing.

[00:01:59]Many people do feel that it's racially inclined to kind of stem the tide from certain countries and certain stations of life to come to the United States and be able to close their cases. It'll certainly put a huge burden on America's embassies, which is against policy for decades where following a change in the law under President Clinton, they actually made fines the cost of the a plane ticket to keep people out of the embassies. Now they're effectively trying to force people into the embassy system.

[00:02:38]Um we're calm about this. The bar is calm. I have to tell you, I'm impressed uh with the lawyers' response to this.

[00:02:45]My late father represented John Lennon from The Beatles when they were trying to deport the famous Beatle for political reasons. We just have to be calm and make sure we do uh the right things. And that means that people are going to be pushing back into the courts on this.

[00:03:04]And I believe that things will go on as usual. What's really shocking about this is that they basically threatened to do this, and they informed their own workforce the same way we were informed. So there wasn't a lot of thought into this.

[00:03:21]And truthfully, it's out of character with what our founding documents and parents envisioned, which would be a a world of entrepreneurs truly making America stand strong. My heart goes out to the tech community cuz they'll be most impacted by the implications of this. The quoters have these cases so far back, it's just really a shameful.

[00:03:47]And I hope that they bear some measure of patience in knowing that this too will pass.

[00:03:53]>> Right, Mr. Wiles. Now, a very central and pivotal question that arises here is you see families in the US, especially international workers, they plan their holidays well in advance, sometimes even three or four years in advance. Now, what is your immediate warning or your advice to applicants who have already filed their paperwork, but are currently planning international travel for fam might be for family, might be for business? And also, I'd like to attach a follow-up question here, Mr. Mr. Wiles.

[00:04:22]We we've had accounts of a lot of people filing cases online in the US, filing lawsuits online. Do you recommend that right now where there's lack of clarity on the implementation of these guidelines for people to be unsure and start filing lawsuits?

[00:04:38]>> You You asked me two questions. The first question has to do about people planning vacations.

[00:04:43]>> Exactly.

[00:04:44]>> business should go on as usual, but I what I would like you to do is to make sure that you are uh in the good hands of a good lawyer. Uh my late father was the president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in 1970, when there were about 400 immigration lawyers. There are over 20,000 immigration lawyers right now in our nation. Make sure you have a good one, that they have a good good name, and that they can guide you through this process. One exception has been carved out, and that is if you can show uh extraordinary circumstances.

[00:05:19]Now, we don't know what it extraordinary means. Is Is that mean if you're married if something extraordinary to an American citizen?

[00:05:26]What is extraordinary? Is Is it just uh extraordinary?

[00:05:30]So, you want to be able to develop a narrative how going abroad to an American embassy could be uh extraordinary to you, and it could be personal, political, and it could be nuanced, and you want a lawyer to kind of opine and develop that narrative for you. And that includes vacations, travel, and everything should be carefully scripted so that nobody makes a mistake while this is being promulgated and reviewed and applied. Uh with regard to your second question, you'll forgive me again, what was the uh nuance?

[00:06:04]>> The second question is around a lot of um people a lot of international um H-1B immigrants, they've started filing Yes. Is that recommended?

[00:06:15]>> So, it really depends on the applications that you're applying for.

[00:06:19]Okay. Uh we we really do recommend doing citizenship applications online, separate issue from what we're discussing today.

[00:06:27]Um whether or not you're going to apply for something online or not will not have any bearing on the application of this uh new uh policy consideration. Uh the thesis is make sure that if you're applying for permanent residence and you're going to adjust your status, you can qualify based on the narrative, and if not, you're fully aware of the consequences.

[00:06:51]What does that mean? If you stepped out of line and you overstayed for 6 months or a year, you're subject to a 3-year or a 10-year bar. So, if they deny your application and you leave, you're going to trigger that. Do you even want to trigger that altogether, and what's the consequence of it? Um and simply put, don't overreact.

[00:07:13]What's critical here is to get a second opinion.

[00:07:16]>> Absolutely, Mr. Wild. The the bottom line I if I may, coming out from you, don't overreact, stay in control, and stay connected. Well, thank you so much once again, Mr. Wild, for joining us, and I hope to have you uh more often on our show. Thank you so much once again.

[00:07:31]>> My honor. Thank you.