R

Reentry Permit - a document issued for the purpose of maintaining one's LPR status, despite a lengthy trip abroad. If an LPR is going abroad for up to two years, it is possible to apply for this permit while still in the U.S. and use it when returning to facilitate reentry. Without a reentry permit, a trip abroad of over six months can lead to problems at reentry and one may be called upon to prove continuous U.S. residence. Note: While a Reentry Permit can help to maintain the LPR status, the long trip abroad can still result in a longer wait to qualify for U.S. citizenship. For maintaining residence for naturalization purposes, there is another type of application that can be filed only in limited circumstances.

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.

Refugee Travel Document (RTD)- An authorization that can be used instead of a passport by a refugee or asylee. One who has fled the home country may not have obtained a passport before leaving and it may be impossible or impractical to obtain one later, since the application would need to be made to the government of the persecuting country. In lieu of the passport, it is possible to apply to the U.S. government for the refugee travel document. A United Nations travel document may be another possibility.

Regional Offices - The three INS Regional Offices that supervise the work of INS Districts and Border Patrol Sectors. The
Regional Directors report to the Executive Associate Commissioner for Field Operations in INS 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.

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.

RD - Receipt Date.

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 INS Service Centers -- Service Centers are not staffed to receive walk-in applications or questions.

SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) - is an internet-based system used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to record all significant events in the educational careers of international students while they are in the United States. Designated school officials (DSOs), consular officers of the U.S. Department of State, and officials of the DHS have access to the database. SEVIS collects information such as biographical data, academic status, dates of entry, employment, completion of studies, transfers and other information and significant events that transpire during the course of an international student's academic career.

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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. citizens to file for naturalization after three years of lawful permanent residence instead of the prescribed five years; 2) a surviving spouse of a U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. citizens, servicemen, seamen, and employees of organizations promoting U.S. interests abroad.

Stateless - Having no nationality.

Status - It is controlled by the I-94 card and given by the CBP officer at the port of entry when one arrives in the United States. One's status can also be changed or extended, in appropriate circumstances, by the USCIS from within the U.S. The terms visa and status are sometimes used interchangeably but the two concepts are very different, a visa controls one's ability to enter the United States, while one's status controls his/her ability to remain inside the U.S. Note: There are many nonimmigrant visa statuses, from A through V, and there are also lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, conditional permanent resident status, asylee or refugee status, temporary protected status, etc. .

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 INS’ 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.

T

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. (See Transit Alien.)

Treaty Trader or Treaty 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.