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Accession Number:
ADA516412
Title:
Immigration Visa Issuances and Grounds for Exclusion: Policy and Trends
Descriptive Note:
Congressional rept
Corporate Author:
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON DC CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
Report Date:
2010-03-10
Pagination or Media Count:
32.0
Abstract:
The conventional wisdom is that the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, prompted a substantive change in U.S. immigration policy on visa issuances and the grounds for excluding foreign nationals from the United States. A series of laws enacted in the 1990s, however, may have done as much or more to set current U.S. visa policy and the legal grounds for exclusion. This reports review of the legislative developments in visa policy over the past 20 years and analysis of the statistical trends in visa issuances and denials provide a nuanced study of U.S. visa policy and the grounds for exclusion. Foreign nationals not already legally residing in the United States who wish to come to the United States generally must obtain a visa to be admitted. Those admitted on a permanent basis are known as immigrants or legal permanent residents LPRs, while those admitted on a temporary basis are known as nonimmigrants such as tourists, foreign students, diplomats, temporary agricultural workers, and exchange visitors. They must first meet a set of criteria specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act INA that determine whether they are eligible for admission. The burden of proof is on the foreign national to establish eligibility for a visa. Conversely, foreign nationals also must not be deemed inadmissible according to other specified grounds in 212a of the INA. These 212a inadmissibility criteria are health-related grounds criminal history security and terrorist concerns public charge e.g., indigence seeking to work without proper labor certification illegal entrants and immigration law violations ineligible for citizenship and aliens illegally present or previously removed.
Distribution Statement:
APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
