A new policy memo issued last week by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), requiring many foreigners in the US to leave the country and obtain green cards through their home countries, has sparked confusion and fear among hundreds of thousands of visa holders and families, as well as immigration advocates and lawyers.

Multiple Guardian readers, speaking anonymously out of fear, said the memo threatens to upend lives they have spent years building in the US – from careers and homes to marriages and long-term plans for stability.

Foreigners seeking permanent residency in the US can typically pursue a green card either through a US consulate overseas or from within the country through a process known as adjustment of status (AOS). Under the new USCIS memo, however, many applicants already living in the US – including those with mixed-status families, jobs and homes – may now have to leave the country while their cases are pending.

After widespread confusion surrounding the memo, a USCIS spokesperson clarified the policy to Semafor last week, saying the agency “is merely restating and reasserting” its interpretation of congressional intent regarding immigration status changes. The spokesperson added: “While we work to operationalize this, people who present applications that provide an economic benefit or otherwise are in the national interest will likely be able to continue on their current path while others may be asked to apply abroad depending on individualized circumstances.”

Despite the clarification, Donald Trump’s latest immigration pivot – from targeting illegal immigration to targeting legal immigration pathways – has deepened uncertainty for many foreigners in the US.

For a 34-year-old Indian software engineer based in Washington on an H-1B visa – a temporary work visa with dual intent that allows foreigners to work in the country while pursuing lawful permanent residency – the policy adds another layer of uncertainty to an already difficult immigration process.

“While it’s unclear whether H-1B visa holders would have to go back for AOS, I got tired of the delays in green card processing for people from India and dumped a significant portion of my life savings in the EB-5 investor program in hopes of getting a green card faster … and finding stability for my family,” he said, referring to a program that allows foreigners to obtain a green card by investing several hundreds of thousands of dollars into a US enterprise that would create at least 10 full-time jobs for American workers.

“It sounds like now we would have to go back [to] applying [through consular processing], which was the very benefit of EB-5 – I could apply concurrently if I was in the US. This would mean losing a job and selling our home and maybe not having enough money to restart lives here now that we have kids,” he added.

Other people fear the policy could destabilize futures they believed were secure.

A 30-year-old resident of Portland, Oregon, who met her Mexican husband while studying at university in Vancouver, British Columbia, said her husband had already received a green card through the adjustment of status process in February. But because they have been married for less than two years, his residency is conditional and valid for only two years before he can apply for a 10-year green card or US citizenship.

“It will be two years before he needs to renew his green card, but three years before he can apply for citizenship. He is worried now to leave the country to visit his family in Mexico or travel. I try to assuage his fears, but it does feel like if this could change, and the rug pulled out from everyone pursuing immigration correctly and legally, then what promise do we truly have about our position now?” she said.

“In his words, he is an ‘anxiety dog’ barking at every sound. This abrupt change has done nothing to ease his concerns, and has created some for me that I’d never anticipated. Throughout this entire process, I’ve been telling him he’s worried about nothing, that if we follow the rules and do things properly, then nothing will go wrong and we can be together. I feel like I misled us.”

For a 26-year-old architectural designer from Hong Kong currently living in New York City on an H-1B visa, the memo has disrupted long-term plans with his fiance.

“I just got engaged with my fiance in Hong Kong and was planning to get married in the US and obtain a green card to continue our lives in the US. We were planning on getting an apartment together and perhaps starting a business. Now that the green card rules have changed, we are doubtful about starting and committing our life in New York City,” he said.

“The concern is how much the US can change their longstanding procedures and rules with simply a memo. The reason I came to the US is for its strong rule of law and used-to-be predictable and stable regulatory environment, where policies don’t just change overnight with almost no public/congressional debates. My more short-term concern is if I have to separate with my fiance in the near future,” he added.

The memo is also accelerating deeply personal decisions, forcing some immigrants to weigh marriage, careers and long-term stability against the uncertainty of remaining in the US.

For a graduate student in Seattle, Washington, currently researching political misinformation while studying on an F-1 student visa, the changes feel especially personal.

“These new green card rules have been personally debilitating for me. I am currently dating a US citizen and we are still in the early stages of building a relationship together, but this new USCIS memo is precipitating conversations that I wish would happen naturally,” she explained.

“For example, I could stay on my F-1 visa and find a job after graduating, while letting the relationship take its natural course. Or I could prioritize staying with my partner and decide to get married so we feel more secure in my ability to stay in the US more long term. However, I think I am being forced to choose my mental stability over my relationship and staying in the US,” she added.

The student continued: “My partner has fewer options for leaving the country, and I have built a life and research network here that I do not want to let go of. But this new memo seems to be the first step among many to effectively make legal immigration harder. It’s been mentally and emotionally taxing to keep track of these ongoing changes, and consider how my visa status is increasingly precarious.”