Following are the frequently used terms while processing your American Green Card Lottery Application. |
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Refugee - Any person who is outside his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return to that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. Persecution or the fear thereof must be based on the alien's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. People with no nationality must generally be outside their country of last habitual residence to qualify as a refugee. Refugees are subject to ceilings by geographic area set annually by the President in consultation with Congress and are eligible to adjust to lawful permanent resident status after one year of continuous presence in the United States. Refugee Approvals
- The number of refugees approved for admission to the United States during a fiscal year. Immigration and Naturalization Service officers in overseas offices make refugee approvals. Refugee Arrivals - The number of refugees the Immigration and Naturalization Service initially admits to the United States through ports of entry during a fiscal year.
Refugee Authorized Admissions - The maximum number of refugees allowed to enter the United States in a given fiscal year. As set forth in the Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-212) the President determines the annual figure after consultations with Congress. Refugee-Parolee - A qualified applicant for conditional entry, between February 1970 and April 1980, whose application for admission to the United States could not be approved because of inadequate numbers of seventh preference visas. As a result, the applicant was paroled into the United States under the parole authority granted the Attorney General. Regional Offices - The three USCIS Regional Offices that supervise the work of USCIS Districts and Border Patrol Sectors. The Regional Directors report to the Executive Associate Commissioner for Field Operations in USCIS Headquarters, Washington, DC. The three Regional Offices are located in (Eastern Region) Burlington, VT, (Central Region) Dallas, TX, and (Western Region) Laguna Nigel, CA. Registry Date - Aliens who have continuously resided in the United States since January 1, 1972, are of good moral character, and are not inadmissible, are eligible to adjust to legal permanent resident status under the registry provision. Before the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 amended the date, aliens had to have been in the country continuously since June 30, 1948, to qualify. Removal - The expulsion of an alien from the United States. This expulsion may be based on grounds of inadmissibility or deportability. Required Departure
- See Voluntary Departure. Resettlement - Permanent relocation of refugees in a place outside their country of origin to allow them to establish residence and become productive members of society there. Refugee resettlement is accomplished with the direct assistance of private voluntary agencies working with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement.Safe Haven - Temporary refuge given to migrants who have fled their countries of origin to seek protection or relief from persecution or other hardships, until they can return to their countries safely or, if necessary until they can obtain permanent relief from the conditions they fled. Service Centers - Four offices established to handle the filing, data entry, and adjudication of certain applications for immigration services and benefits. The applications are mailed to USCIS Service Centers -- Service Centers are not staffed to receive walk-in applications or questions. Special Agricultural Workers (SAW) - Aliens who performed labor in perishable agricultural commodities for a specified period of time and were admitted for temporary and then permanent residence under a provision of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Up to 350,000 aliens who worked at least 90 days in each of the 3 years preceding May 1, 1986 were eligible for Group I temporary resident
status. Eligible aliens who qualified under this requirement but applied after the 350,000 limit was met and aliens who performed labor in perishable agricultural commodities for at least 90 days during the year ending May 1, 1986 were eligible for Group II temporary resident status. Adjustment to permanent resident status is essentially automatic for both groups; however, aliens in Group I were eligible on December 1, 1989 and those in Group II were eligible one year later on December 1, 1990.
Special Immigrants - Certain categories of immigrants who were exempt from numerical limitation before fiscal year 1992 and subject to limitation under the employment-based fourth preference beginning in 1992; persons who lost citizenship by marriage; persons who lost citizenship by serving in foreign armed forces; ministers of religion and other religious workers, their spouses and children; certain employees and former employees of the US Government
abroad, their spouses and children; Panama Canal Act immigrants; certain foreign medical school graduates, their spouses and children; certain retired employees of international organizations, their spouses and children; juvenile court dependents; and certain aliens serving in the US Armed Forces, their spouses and children. Special Naturalization Provisions - Provisions covering special classes of persons whom may be naturalized even though
they do not meet all the general requirements for naturalization. Such special provisions allow: 1) wives or husbands of US citizens to file for naturalization after three years of lawful permanent residence instead of the prescribed five years; 2) a surviving spouse of a US citizen who served in the armed forces to file his or her naturalization application in any district instead of where he/she resides; and 3) children of US citizen parents to be naturalized without meeting certain requirements or
taking the oath, if too young to understand the meaning. Other classes of persons who may qualify for special consideration are former US citizens, servicemen, seamen, and employees of organizations promoting US interests abroad. Stateless - Having no nationality. Stowaway - An alien coming to the United States surreptitiously
on an airplane or vessel without legal status of admission. Such an alien is subject to denial of formal admission and return to the point of embarkation by the transportation carrier. Student - As a nonimmigrant class of admission, an alien coming temporarily to the United States to pursue a full course of study in an approved program in either an academic (college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic
high school, elementary school, other institution, or language training program) or a vocational or other recognized nonacademic institution. Suboffices - Offices found in some Districts that serve a portion of the District's jurisdiction. A Suboffice, headed by an Officer-in-Charge, provides many services and enforcement functions. Their locations are determined, in part, to increase convenience to USCIS' customers.
Subject to the Numerical Limit - Categories of legal immigrants subject to annual limits under the provisions of the flexible numerical limit of 675,000 set by the Immigration Act of 1990. The largest categories are: family-sponsored preferences; employment-based preferences; and diversity immigrants.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) - Establishes a legislative basis for allowing a group of persons temporary refuge in the United States. Under a provision
of the Immigration Act of 1990, the Attorney General may designate nationals of a foreign state to be eligible for TPS with a finding that conditions in that country pose a danger to personal safety due to ongoing armed conflict or an environmental disaster. Grants of TPS are initially made for periods of 6 to 18 months and may be extended depending on the situation. Removal proceedings are suspended against aliens while they are in Temporary Protected Status.
Temporary Resident - See Nonimmigrant. Temporary Worker - An alien coming to the United States to work for a temporary period of time. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and the Immigration Act of 1990, as well as other legislation, revised existing classes and created new classes of nonimmigrant admission. Nonimmigrant temporary worker classes of admission are
as follows: 1) H-1A - registered nurses (valid from 10/1/1990 through 9/30/1995); 2) H-1B - workers with "specialty occupations" admitted on the basis of professional education, skills, and/or equivalent experience; 3) H-1C - registered nurses to work in areas with a shortage of health professionals under the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act
of 1999; 4) H-2A - temporary agricultural workers coming to the United States to perform agricultural services or labor of a temporary or seasonal nature when authorized workers are unavailable in the United States; 5) H-2B - temporary non-agricultural workers coming to the United States to perform temporary services or labor if unemployed persons capable of performing
the service or labor cannot be found in the United States; 6) H-3 - aliens coming temporarily to the United States as trainees, other than to receive graduate medical education or training; 7) O-1, O-2, O-3 - temporary workers with extraordinary ability or achievement in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; those entering solely for the purpose of accompanying
and assisting such workers; and their spouses and children; 8) P-1, P-2, P-3, P-4 - athletes and entertainers at an internationally recognized level of performance; artists and entertainers under a reciprocal exchange program; artists and entertainers under a program that is "culturally unique"; and their spouses and children; 9) Q-1, Q-2, Q-3 - participants
in international cultural exchange programs; participants in the Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program; and spouses and children of Irish Peace Process participants; 10) R-1, R-2 - temporary workers to perform work in religious occupations and their spouses and children.
Transit Alien - An alien in immediate and continuous transit through the United States, with or without a visa, including, 1) aliens who qualify as persons entitled to pass in transit to and from the United Nations Headquarters District and
foreign countries and 2) foreign government officials and their spouses and unmarried minor (or dependent) children in transit. Transition Quarter - The three-month period--July 1 through September 30, 1976--between fiscal year 1976 and fiscal year 1977. At that time, the fiscal year definition shifted from July 1-June 30 to October 1-September 30.
Transit Without Visa (TWOV) - A transit alien traveling without a nonimmigrant visa under section 233 of the INA. An alien admitted under agreements with a transportation line, which guarantees his immediate and continuous passage to a foreign destination. Treaty Trader or Investor - As a nonimmigrant class of admission, an alien coming to the United States, under
the provisions of a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the foreign state of such alien, to carry on substantial trade or to direct the operations of an enterprise in which he/she has invested a substantial amount of capital, and the alien's spouse and unmarried minor children. Underrepresented Countries - The Immigration Amendments of 1988, Public Law 101-658 (Act of 11/5/88) allowed for 10,000 visas to be issued to natives of underrepresented countries in each of fiscal years 1990 and 1991. Under-represented
countries are defined as countries that received less than 25 percent of the maximum allowed under the country limitations (20,000 for independent countries and 5,000 for dependencies) in fiscal year 1988. United States-Canada Free-Trade Agreement - Public Law 100-449 (Act of 9/28/88) established a special, reciprocal trading relationship between the United States and Canada. It provided two new classes of nonimmigrant admission
for temporary visitors to the United States-Canadian citizen business persons and their spouses and unmarried minor children. Entry is facilitated for visitors seeking classification as visitors for business, treaty traders or investors, intracompany transferees, or other business people engaging in activities at a professional level. Such visitors are not required to obtain nonimmigrant visas, prior petitions, labor certifications, or prior approval but must satisfy the inspecting officer they are seeking entry to engage
in activities at a professional level and that they are so qualified. The United States-Canada Free-Trade Agreement was superseded by the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as of 1/1/94.  |
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Visa Waiver Pilot Program - Allows citizens of certain selected countries, traveling temporarily to the United States under the nonimmigrant admission classes of visitors for pleasure and visitors for business, to enter the United States without obtaining nonimmigrant visas. Admission is for no more than 90 days. The program was instituted by the Immigration
Reform and Control Act of 1986 (entries began 7/1/88). Under the Guam Visa Waiver Pilot Program, certain visitors from designated countries may visit Guam only for up to 15 days without first having to obtain nonimmigrant visitor visas. Voluntary Departure - The departure of an alien from the United States without an order of removal. The departure may or may not have been preceded by a hearing before
an immigration judge. An alien allowed to voluntarily depart concedes removability but does not have a bar to seeking admission at a port-of-entry at any time. Failure to depart within the time granted results in a fine and a ten-year bar to several forms of relief from deportation.
Withdrawal - An arriving alien's voluntary retraction of an application for admission to the United States in lieu of a removal hearing before an immigration judge or an expedited removal. Withdrawals
are not included in nonimmigrant admission data.
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