Immigration

Family-Based Immigration Introduction Family relationships are one of the principal foundations of lawful immigration to the United States. U.S. immigration law permits certain U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to petition for qualifying relatives, creating pathways through which eligible family members may obtain immigrant visas and, ultimately, lawful permanent residence. Read more

Inadmissibility vs. Deportability Introduction Two of the most important concepts in U.S. immigration law are inadmissibility and deportability, also called removability. The terms are related, but they are not interchangeable. Inadmissibility generally concerns whether a noncitizen is legally eligible to be admitted to the United States or to receive certain Read more

Admission, Entry, and Parole Introduction In U.S. immigration law, the words entry, admission, and parole may sound interchangeable in ordinary conversation. Legally, however, they describe different concepts with different consequences. A person may physically cross the U.S. border without being legally “admitted.” A person may be inspected by immigration authorities Read more

Immigration Status: Citizen, Immigrant, Nonimmigrant, and Parolee Introduction One of the first questions in U.S. immigration law is deceptively simple: What is a person’s immigration status? The answer matters because legal status determines what rights a person has to enter or remain in the United States, whether the person may Read more

Federal Power Over Immigration Introduction One of the defining characteristics of U.S. immigration law is that immigration is principally a matter of federal power. Unlike many areas of American law, where states exercise substantial independent authority, the federal government has historically exercised dominant authority over who may enter the United Read more

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Introduction The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is the central federal statute governing immigration and nationality in the United States. Enacted by Congress in 1952, the INA established a comprehensive statutory framework addressing immigration, admission, exclusion, removal, naturalization, and nationality. Although the INA is Read more

Sources of U.S. Immigration Law Introduction U.S. immigration law does not come from a single statute or a single government agency. It is a complex body of federal law derived from several different legal sources, including the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes, administrative regulations, executive actions, judicial decisions, treaties, and international Read more

Immigrants, Nonimmigrants, and Undocumented Immigrants Under U.S. Law Introduction U.S. immigration law does not treat every foreign national who enters or resides in the United States in the same way. One of the most important foundations of immigration law is the classification of a person’s legal relationship with the United Read more

What Is U.S. Immigration Law? U.S. immigration law is the body of federal law governing the entry, admission, presence, employment, protection, removal, and eventual naturalization of people who are not United States citizens or nationals. It also establishes rules concerning visas, lawful permanent residence, asylum and refugee protection, immigration enforcement, Read more