U S Immigration Policy On Temporary Admissions

U.S. law provides for the temporary admission of various categories of foreign nationals, who are known as non-immigrants (NI). NI are admitted for a designated period of time and a specific purpose. They include a wide range of visitors, including tourists, foreign students, diplomats, and temporary workers. There are 24 major NI visa categories. These visa categories are commonly referred to by the letter and numeral that denotes their subsection in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Contents of this report: Intro.; Policy Tensions; Broad Categories of Non-immigrants; Exclusion and Removal; Periods of Admission; Employment Authorization; Statistical Trends; Current Laws. Charts and tables. A print on demand report.

U.S. law provides for the temporary admission of various categories of foreign nationals, who are known as nonimmigrants. Nonimmigrants are admitted for a designated period of time and a specific purpose. They include a wide range of visitors, including tourists, foreign students, diplomats, and temporary workers. There are 24 major nonimmigrant visa categories. These visa categories are commonly referred to by the letter and numeral that denotes their subsection in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); for example, B-2 tourists, E-2 treaty investors, F-1 foreign students, H-1B temporary professional workers, J-1 cultural exchange participants, or S-4 terrorist informants. According to the most recent analysis, there were 1.8 million nonimmigrants who maintained a residence in the United States in 2008. Of the 1.8 million nonimmigrants, 50.8% (0.93 million) were temporary workers and their families, 32.2% (0.59 million) were students and their families, 13.1% (0.24 million) were exchange visitors and families, and 3.8% (0.07 million) were diplomats, other representatives, and their families. Although most nonimmigrants must demonstrate that they are not coming to reside permanently in the United States, many ultimately adjust their status to become legal permanent residents. The law and regulations set terms for nonimmigrant lengths of stay in the United States, typically have foreign residency requirements, and often limit what aliens are permitted to do in the United States (e.g., gain employment or enroll in school), but many observers assert that the policies are not uniformly or rigorously enforced. Achieving an optimal balance among major policy priorities, such as ensuring national security, facilitating trade and commerce, protecting public health and safety, and fostering international cooperation, remains a challenge.

U.S. law provides for the temporary admission of various categories of foreign nationals, who are known as nonimmigrants. Nonimmigrants are admitted for a designated period of time and a specific purpose. They include a wide range of visitors, including tourists, foreign students, diplomats, and temporary workers. There are 24 major nonimmigrant visa categories, and 72 specific types of nonimmigrant visas issued currently. These visa categories are commonly referred to by the letter and numeral that denotes their subsection in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), e.g, B-2 tourists, E-2 treaty investors, F-1 foreign students, H-1B temporary professional workers, J-1 cultural exchange participants, or S-4 terrorist informants.

Four major principles underlie U.S. policy on immigration: the reunification of families, the admission of immigrants with skills, the protection of refugees, and the diversity of admissions by country of origin. Additionally, U.S. law provides for the temporary admission of various categories of foreign nationals, who are known as non-immigrants. This book explores the immigration policy of the United States with regard to permanent and temporary admissions, with a focus on current law and policy, per-country ceilings, immigration patterns and non-immigrant categories.

U.S. law provides for the temporary admission of foreign nationals. Nonimmigrants are foreign nationals who are admitted for a designated period of time and a specific purpose. There are 24 major nonimmigrant visa categories, which are commonly referred to by the letter and numeral that denote their subsection in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); for example, B-2 tourists, E-2 treaty investors, F-1 foreign students, H-1B temporary professional workers, J-1 cultural exchange participants, or S-5 law enforcement witnesses and informants. A U.S. Department of State (DOS) consular officer (at the time of application for a visa) and a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector (at the time of application for admission) must be satisfied that an alien is entitled to nonimmigrant status. The burden of proof is on the applicant to establish eligibility for nonimmigrant status and the type of nonimmigrant visa for which the application is made. Both DOS consular officers (when the alien is applying for nonimmigrant status abroad) and DHS inspectors (when the alien is entering the United States) must also determine that the alien is not ineligible for a visa under the INA's "grounds for inadmissibility," which include criminal, terrorist, and public health grounds for exclusion. In FY2018, DOS consular officers issued 9.0 million nonimmigrant visas, down from a peak of 10.9 million in FY2015. There were approximately 6.8 million tourism and business visas, which comprised more than three-quarters of all nonimmigrant visas issued in FY2018. Other notable groups were temporary workers (924,000, or 10.2%), students (399,000, or 4.4%), and cultural exchange visitors (382,000, or 4.2%). Visas issued to foreign nationals from Asia made up 43% of nonimmigrant visas issued in FY2018, followed by North America (21%), South America (18%), Europe (12%), and Africa (5%). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors approved 181.1 million temporary admissions of foreign nationals to the United States during FY2017. CBP data enumerate arrivals, thus counting frequent travelers each time they were admitted to the United States during the fiscal year. Mexican nationals with border crossing cards and Canadian nationals traveling for business or tourist purposes accounted for the vast majority of admissions, representing approximately 103.5 million entries in FY2017. California and Florida were the top two destination states for nonimmigrant visa holders in FY2017, with each state being listed as the destination for more than 10 million nonimmigrant admissions. In addition, nine other states were each listed as the destination for at least 1 million nonimmigrant admissions in that year. Current law and regulations set terms for nonimmigrant lengths of stay in the United States, typically include foreign residency requirements, and often limit what aliens are permitted to do while in the country (e.g., engage in employment or enroll in school). Some observers assert that the law and regulations are not uniformly or rigorously enforced, and the issue of visa overstays has received an increasing amount of attention in recent years. Achieving an optimal balance among policy priorities, such as ensuring national security, facilitating trade and commerce, protecting public health and safety, and fostering international cooperation, remains a challenge.

"The Immigration and Nationality Act sets immigration policy in the United States. The act provides for the lawful entry of foreign nationals on a permanent or temporary basis. In 2009, the United States granted legal permanent resident status to more than 1.1 million people. About two-thirds of those people were admitted to the United States on the basis of family connections to current U.S. citizens or residents. Also in 2009, roughly 5.8 million temporary visas were issued, about three-quarters of which were for people visiting the United States for business or tourism for a short period. This document updates the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) February 2006 paper Immigration Policy in the United States. It presents data through 2009 on permanent and temporary admissions of foreign nationals to the United States, the number and types of visas issued, the naturalization of residents, and enforcement of immigration laws--and makes comparisons with 2004, which was the most recent year for which most data were reported in the earlier paper. In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, this document does not make any recommendations"--Preface.

Immigration has been a subject of legislation since the nation's founding. In 1790, the Congress established a formal process enabling the foreign born to become U.S. citizens. Just over a century later, in response to increasing levels of immigration, the federal government assumed the task of reviewing and processing all immigrants seeking admission to the United States. Since then, numerous changes have been made to U.S. immigration policy. This paper, requested by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, is part of a series of reports by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on immigration. The paper focuses on the evolution of U.S. immigration policy and presents statistics on the various categories of lawful admission and enforcement of the nation's immigration laws.