U.S. Immigration Policy on Temporary Admissions

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Population and demographics

Type:

Abstract:

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.

Interest in nonimmigrant visas soared immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which were conducted by foreign nationals apparently admitted to the United States on legal visas. Since that time, policy makers have raised a series of questions about aliens in the United States and the extent that the federal government monitors their admission and presence in this country. Some of the specific visa categories are the focus of legislative activity (e.g., guest workers).

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) consular officer, at the time of application for a visa, as well as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration inspectors, at the time of application for admission, must be satisfied that the 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 petitioning abroad) and DHS inspectors (when the alien is entering the United States) must confirm that the alien is not ineligible for a visa under the so-called "grounds for inadmissibility" of the INA, which include criminal, terrorist, and public health grounds for exclusion.

Nonimmigrant visas issued abroad dipped to 5.0 million in FY2004 after peaking at 7.6 million in FY2001. The FY2005 data inched back up to 5.4 million nonimmigrant visas issued. Over the past 12 years, DOS has typically issued around 6 million nonimmigrant visas annually. The growth in the late 1990s has been largely attributable to the issuances of border crossing cards to residents of Canada and Mexico and the issuances of temporary worker visas. Combined, visitors for tourism and business comprised the largest group of nonimmigrants in FY2005, about 3.42 million, down from 5.7 million in FY2000. Other notable categories were students and exchange visitors (9.4%) and temporary workers (17.9%).

The law and regulations usually set strict 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.