United States Immigration Policy On Permanent And Temporary Admissions

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 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 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.

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.

Contents: (1) Overview; (2) Current Law and Policy; Worldwide Immigration Levels; Per-Country Ceilings; Other Permanent Immigration Categories; (3) Admissions Trends: Immigration Patterns, 1900-2008; FY 2008 Admissions; (4) Backlogs and Waiting Times: Visa Processing Dates: Family-Based Visa Priority Dates; Employment-Based Visa Retrogression; Petition Processing Backlogs; (5) Issues and Options in the 111th Congress: Effects of Current Economic Conditions on Legal Immigration; Family-Based Preferences; Permanent Partners; Point System; Immigration Commission; Interaction with Legalization Options; Lifting Per-Country Ceilings. Charts and tables.