Legal immigration is a highly regulated and tightly controlled system that serves the national interest.Through our legal immigration system, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents unite with closefamily members, and U.S. employers gain access to the specific skills necessary to strengthen the U.S.economy and remain competitive in the global economy. Through legal immigration, the U.S. also fulfills its longstanding tradition of protecting a fraction of the world’s refugees. Legal immigration is good for America – citizens and immigrants alike.

Who is a legal immigrant?

A legal immigrant is a foreign-born individual who has been admitted to reside in the United States as a lawful permanent resident (LPR). LPRs are given immigrant visas, commonly referred to as “green cards.”
Non-immigrants are foreign-born individuals who are permitted to enter the United States for a limited period of time, and are given only temporary (nonimmigrant) visas. Examples of nonimmigrants are students, tourists, temporary workers, business executives, and diplomats.

How does someone come to the U.S. as an immigrant?

• Through family-based immigration, a U.S. citizen or LPR can sponsor his or her close family members for permanent residence. A U.S. citizen can sponsor his or her spouse, parent (if the sponsor is over 21), children, and brothers and sisters. An LPR can sponsor his or her spouse, minor children, and adult unmarried children. As a result of recent changes in the law, all citizens or LPRs wishing to petition for a family member must have an income at least 125% of the federal poverty level and sign a legally enforceable affidavit to support their family member.
• Through employment-based immigration, a U.S. employer can sponsor a foreign-born employee for permanent residence. Typically, the employer must first demonstrate to then Department of Labor that there is no qualified U.S. worker available for the job for which an immigrant visa is being sought.
• As a refugee or asylee, a person may gain permanent residence in the U.S. A person located outside the United States who seeks protection in the U.S. on the grounds that he or she faces persecution in his or her homeland can enter this country as a refugee. In order to be admitted to the U.S. as a refugee, the person must prove that he or she has a “well-founded fear of persecution” on the basis of at least one of the following internationally recognized grounds: race; religion; membership in a social group; political opinion; or national origin. Refugees generally apply for admission to the United States in refugee camps or at designated processing sites outside their home countries. In some instances, refugees may apply for protection from within their home countries (for example, Cuba, Vietnam, former Soviet Union). If accepted as a refugee, the person is sent to the U.S. and receives assistance through the "refugee resettlement program".

  A person who is already in the United States and fears persecution if sent back to his or her home country may apply for asylum in the U.S. Like a refugee, an asylum applicant must prove that he or she has a “well-founded” fear of persecution based on one of the five enumerated grounds listed above. Once granted asylum, the person is called an “asylee.” In most cases, an individual must apply for asylum within one year of arriving in the U.S. Refugees and asylees may apply for permanent residence after one year in the U.S.
  

How many immigrants are admitted to the United States every year?

By statute, Congress has placed a limit on the number of foreign-born individuals who are admitted to the United States annually as family-based or employment-based immigrants or as refugees.

• Family-based immigration is limited by statute to 480,000 persons per year. Family-based immigration is governed by a formula that imposes a cap on every family-based immigration category, with the exception of “immediate relatives” (spouses, minor unmarried children, and parents of U.S. citizens). The formula allows unused employment-based immigrant visas in one year to be dedicated to family-based immigration the following year, and unused family-based immigration visas in one year to be added to the cap the next year. This formula means that there are slight variations from year to year in family-based immigration. Because of the numerical cap, there are long waiting periods to obtain a visa in most of the family-based immigrant categories.
  
  There is no numerical cap on the number of immediate relatives (spouses, minor unmarried children and parents of U.S. citizens) admitted annually to the U.S. as immigrants. However, the number of immediate relatives is subtracted from the 480,000 cap on family-based immigration to determine the number of other family-based immigrants to be admitted in the following year (with a floor of 226,000).
  
  
• Employment-based immigration is limited by statute to 140,000 persons per year. In most cases, before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will issue an employment-based immigrant visa to a foreign-born individual, the employer first must obtain a “labor certification” from the U.S. Department of Labor confirming that there are no U.S. workers able, qualified and willing to perform the work for which the foreign-born individual is being hired. The Department of Labor also must confirm that employment of the foreign-born individual will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. The labor certification process takes an average of 2 years to complete.
  
  The United States accepts only a limited number of refugees from around the world each year. This number is determined every year by the President in consultation with Congress. The total number of annual “refugee slots” is divided among different regions of the world. For fiscal year 2004, the number of refugee admissions was set at 70,000. Regional ceilings are as follows:
  • Africa 25,000 Latin America/Caribbean 3,500
  • East Asia 6,500 Near East/South Asia 2,000
  • Europe & CentralAsia 13,000 Unallocated Reserve 20,000
    
    

  There is no limit on the number of people who can be granted asylum each year. Both refugees and asylees may apply to become LPRs after one year, but only 10,000 asylees are permitted to become LPRs in any fiscal year. No such limitation is imposed on refugees.

  FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRATION

  Historically, family reunification has been the principal policy underpinning U.S. immigration law.Family-based immigration, a tightly regulated system, allows for close relatives of U.S. Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) to rejoin their families here in America.
  Family-based immigrants are admitted to the U.S. either as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens or through the family preference system.

  Immediate Relatives are:

  • Spouses of U.S. citizens;
  • Unmarried minor children of U.S. citizens; and
  • Parents of U.S. citizens.

  There is no cap on the number of visas available each year for immediate relatives. The Family Preference System allows into the U.S.:• Adult children (unmarried and married) and brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens; and

  Spouses and unmarried children (minor and adult) of LPRs. There are a limited number of visas available every year under the Family Preference system. Under current immigration law, visas are allocated as follows:

  The Family Preference System

  • U.S. Sponsor Relationship Preference # Visa Allocated
  • U.S. Citizen unmarried adult children 1st 23,400visas/yr (21 yrs or older)
  • LPR spouses and minor children 2nd A 87,900 visas/yr
  • LPR unmarried adult children 2nd B 26,300 visas/yr (21 yrs or older)
  • U.S. Citizen married adult children 3rd 23,400 visas/yr
  • U.S. Citizen brothers and sisters 4th 65,000 visas/yr

   

  BUSINESS IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES:

  Current U.S. immigration law allows people who have skills and talents needed in the United States to be admitted to the United States to work on a temporary or permanent basis. This paper provides a basic overview of the current employment-based immigration system.

  Nonimmigrant (Temporary) Visas for Business

  • There are more than 20 different kinds of nonimmigrant visa names and types. Each is defined by Congress in the statute to meet a particular need of the U.S. economy. Some of these visas can be used for employment in the United States, under tightly regulated conditions.
    
    
  • These foreign nationals are allowed to enter the United States for temporary, specifically defined periods of time and in most cases must show intent to return to their home country at the end of their temporary stay.
    
    
  • Nonimmigrants with permission to work in the United States are either sponsored by a U.S. employer based on a specific job offer and must work only for that employer, or have work permission for specific objectives. (For example, students granted practical training in their field of study or professors and researchers working in international exchange programs.)
    
    
  • Most foreign nationals undergo at least two screening processes in order to come to the United States. The State Department Consular Officer decides whether the individual's purpose in coming matches one of the approved categories, and whether the person meets all other eligibility criteria for admission (that is, they're not a criminal, have not previously committed fraud, etc.) before issuing a visa to allow the individual to come to the United States.
    
    Upon arrival, all non-immigrants are inspected by the USCIS to reconfirm their qualification for admission, and to determine the appropriate nonimmigrant classification and authorize a specific length of stay. Some employer-sponsored non-immigrants must have USCIS approve a petition on their behalf, based on highly defined criteria, before even applying for their visa.
    
    Some work-authorized categories are limited by annual levels
    (for example, H-1B professionals, and H-2B temporary or seasonal workers).
    
    

  Immigrant (Permanent Resident) Visas for Business

  • There are five basic types of business immigrant visas, ranked in order of priority of need by U.S. employers and the economy, as determined by Congress. All categories are limited by annual levels and per-country levels.
    
    
  • These immigrants become permanent residents -- obtain “green cards” -- and the indefinite right to live and work in the United States, as long as they do not commit any offense that would render them deportable.
    
    
  • Business immigrants usually are sponsored by a U.S. employer based on a demonstrated need. Some business immigrants may self-petition if they meet statutory criteria for "extraordinary ability" in their field, or if their entry would be in the "national interest".
    
    

  NONIMMIGRANT (TEMPORARY) VISAS

  There is a wide range of temporary visas, used for many different purposes, with validity periods ranging from a few days to several years. The USCIS must approve some in advance before being reviewed and issued by the State Department; others are only reviewed by the State Department.

  Visas may be granted to the principal applicant and to his or her dependents (spouse and minor children). There is a difference between a visa and a status, although both are referred to in the same manner and with the same alphabetical designation (based on the respective section of the Immigration and Nationality Act). A visa is simply a document in the person’s passport. It serves as a “ticket” to ensure that a foreign national can board the airplane to the U.S. A person’s visa status is the category in which he or she is admitted to the United States and also determines the period of time he or she may remain. An individual’s visa status is granted by the USCIS once the applicant arrives at the border or a port of entry, and can be changed or extended by the USCIS at one of its remote Service Centers.

  The different temporary visa categories are:

  A	Diplomatic employees and their households
  B	Business visitors (B-1) or tourists (B-2)
  C	Aliens in Transit (pass-through at an airport or seaport)
  D	Crewmember (air or sea) [note that crewlist visas are set to be eliminated effective June 16, 2004, pursuant to a March 18, 2004 State Department interim final rule published at 69 Fed. Reg. 12797 (Mar. 18, 2004)]
  E	Treaty-Investors or Treaty-Traders (from countries where we have a treaty of commerce and investment)
  F	Students
  G	Employees of International Organizations (IMF, OPIC, OAS, International Red Cross, etc.)
  H	Temporary Workers. Can be professionals (H-1B), nurses (H-1C), agricultural workers (H-2A), temporary or seasonal workers (H-2B), or trainees (H-3)
  I	Representatives of international media
  J	Exchange visitors (educational exchange students, au pairs, graduate medical trainees, practical training students, professors and researchers, short-term scholars, camp counselors)
  K	Fiances and fiancees; spouses of U.S. citizens married abroad
  L	Intracompany transferees (executives, managers, persons with proprietary knowledge)
  M	Language and vocational students
  N	NATO employees
  O	Extraordinary ability aliens
  P	Athletes, entertainment groups (such as orchestras) and support personnel
  Q	Cultural exchange visitors (example: Smithsonian Folklife Festival)
  R	Religious workers
  S	Criminal informants
  T	Victims of international trafficking in persons
  TN	NAFTA Professionals
  U	Victims of criminal activity
  V	Spouses and minor children of permanent residents who are waiting for green cards