Those who are in the United States are not simply citizens and non-citizens. There are a number of immigration statuses in the United States. In fact, there are four of them. Learning about the different U.S. immigration forms’ status can be important in understanding your rights and responsibilities while in the country. It can also help you avoid deportation orders for failing to comply with the rights and responsibilities of your immigration status.
What are the Different Form of Immigration Status in the United States?
The four essential forms of immigration status in the U.S. include citizens, residents, nonimmigrants, and undocumented immigrants. Let’s start off here by looking at U.S. citizens. There are two ways for a person can become a U.S. citizen. One of these ways is to be born in the U.S. The other is to go through the naturalization process which you may be eligible for after three to five years as a U.S. resident. U.S. citizens are granted certain inalienable rights and protections, including being unable to be deported. The exception to deportation being, of course, in the event that U.S. citizenship was obtained by fraudulent means.
U.S. citizens are also able to legally work in the country. They can also, should they qualify, receive public benefits. Additionally, U.S. citizens can assist immediate family members to become U.S. residents and citizens.
The next type of immigration status in the U.S. is that of the lawful permanent resident. Usually, when talking about a U.S. resident, the reference is to a lawful permanent resident. There is, however, a conditional permanent resident status in the U.S. and it is a status that follows an individual who has married a U.S. citizen and must complete two years of marriage before being eligible to receive a green card and remove conditional status from the resident status. As a conditional resident, the immigrant and the citizen spouse must jointly file to remove the conditional status within two years after receiving a green card.
Legal or lawful permanent residents are, on the other hand, immigrants who have obtained a green card. A green card can be obtained through employer sponsorship or family sponsorship as well as, in some cases, individually under certain circumstances. Permanent residents have the right to live and work in the U.S. permanently.
Nonimmigrant status applies to those individuals who are legally working and living in the country but are doing so only on a temporary basis. Nonimmigrants, therefore, include those who are tourists in the country and those students on F-1 visas. Nonimmigrants have no intention of becoming residents of the U.S. and must comply with the terms of the applicable visa. Failure to comply with the term of the visa or getting a visa through perpetrating a fraud can make a nonimmigrant transition to undocumented status and, thus, removable.
Lastly, there is the undocumented immigrant status. Undocumented immigrants have no legal status to be in the U.S. Legally speaking, they are not able to live or work in the U.S. on a temporary or permanent basis. Those who are undocumented can be removable at any time.
However, Many undocumented individuals do have options but these options are case sensitive.
Immigration Law Attorneys
If you have any questions about how these immigration and nationality laws in the United States may impact you or your family or want to access additional information about the United States or Canadian immigration and nationality laws, please feel free to get in touch with the immigration and nationality lawyers at NPZ Law Group. You can send us an email at info@visaserve.com, or you can call us at 201-670-0006 extension 104. In addition, we invite you to find more information on our website at www.visaserve.com