{ "id": "R43145", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43145", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 585347, "date": "2018-02-09", "retrieved": "2019-12-20T21:49:55.173853", "title": "U.S. Family-Based Immigration Policy", "summary": "Family reunification has historically been a key principle underlying U.S. immigration policy. It is embodied in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which specifies numerical limits for five family-based immigration categories, as well as a per-country limit on total family-based immigration. The five categories include immediate relatives (spouses, minor unmarried children, and parents) of U.S. citizens and four other family-based categories that vary according to individual characteristics such as the legal status of the petitioning U.S.-based relative, and the age, family relationship, and marital status of the prospective immigrant. \nOf the 1,183,505 foreign nationals admitted to the United States in FY2016 as lawful permanent residents (LPRs), 804,793, or 68%, were admitted on the basis of family ties. Of the family-based immigrants admitted in FY2016, 70% were admitted as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Many of the 1,183,505 immigrants were initially admitted on a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa and became immigrants by converting or \u201cadjusting\u201d their status to a lawful permanent resident. The proportion of family-based immigrants who adjusted their immigration status while residing in the United States (34%) was substantially less than that of family-based immigrants who had their immigration petitions processed while living abroad (66%), although such percentages varied considerably among the five family-based immigration categories.\nSince FY2000, increasing numbers of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens have accounted for the growth in family-based immigration. In FY2016, related (derivative) immigrants who accompanied or later followed principal (qualifying) immigrants accounted for 9% of all family-based immigration. In recent years, Mexico, the Philippines, China, India, and the Dominican Republic have sent the most family-based immigrants to the United States.\nEach year, the number of foreign nationals petitioning for LPR status through family-sponsored preference categories exceeds the numerical limits of legal immigrant visas. As a result, a visa queue has accumulated of foreign nationals who qualify as immigrants under the INA but who must wait for a visa to immigrate to the United States. The visa queue is not a processing backlog but, rather, the number of persons approved for visas not yet available due to INA-specified numerical limits. As of November 1, 2017, the visa queue numbered 3.95 million persons. \nEvery month, the Department of State (DOS) issues its Visa Bulletin, which lists \u201ccut-off dates\u201d for each numerically limited family-based immigration category. Cut-off dates indicate when petitions that are currently being processed for a numerically limited visa were initially approved. For most countries, cut-off dates range between 23 months and 13.5 years ago. For countries that send the most immigrants, the range expands to between 2 and 23 years ago.\nLong-standing debates over the level of annual permanent immigration regularly place scrutiny on family-based immigration and revive debates over whether its current proportion of total lawful permanent immigration is appropriate. Proposals to overhaul family-based immigration were made by two congressionally mandated commissions in 1980 and 1995-1997. More recent legislative proposals to revise family-based immigration include S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act in the 113th Congress and S. 1720, the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act in the 115th Congress. \nThose who favor expanding family-based immigration by increasing the annual numeric limits point to the visa queue of approved prospective immigrants who must wait years separated from their U.S.-based family members until they receive a visa. Others question whether the United States has an obligation to reconstitute families of immigrants beyond their nuclear families and favor reducing permanent immigration by eliminating certain family-based preference categories. Arguments favoring restricting certain categories of family-based immigration reiterate earlier recommendations made by congressionally mandated immigration reform commissions.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43145", "sha1": "bff81823c326b6da0efd0054f6ec7e0e74d03e00", "filename": "files/20180209_R43145_bff81823c326b6da0efd0054f6ec7e0e74d03e00.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43145_files&id=/1.png": "files/20180209_R43145_images_5e8d2897d32011f6f99794fc614f73dba7236a5e.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R43145_files&id=/0.png": "files/20180209_R43145_images_364ae6b7f6d036666b996268fc5b8c777ece8553.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43145", "sha1": "2eefb38375dffb0224caf3c88a5407a78a712851", "filename": "files/20180209_R43145_2eefb38375dffb0224caf3c88a5407a78a712851.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4822, "name": "Immigration Legal Admissions" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 449879, "date": "2016-02-17", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T17:09:18.564712", "title": "U.S. Family-Based Immigration Policy", "summary": "Family reunification is a key principle underlying U.S. immigration policy. It is embodied in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which specifies numerical limits for five family-based admission categories, as well as a per-country limit on total family-based admissions. The five categories include immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and four other family-based categories that vary according to individual characteristics such as the legal status of the petitioning U.S.-based relative, and the age, family relationship, and marital status of the prospective immigrant. \nOf the 990,553 foreign nationals admitted to the United States in FY2013 as lawful permanent residents (LPRs), 649,763, or 66%, were admitted on the basis of family ties. Of these family-based immigrants admitted in FY2013, 68% were admitted as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Many of the 990,553 immigrants were initially admitted on a temporary basis and became immigrants by converting or \u201cadjusting\u201d their status to a lawful permanent resident. The proportion of family-based immigrants who adjusted their immigration status while residing in the United States (54%) exceeded that of family-based immigrants who had their immigration petitions processed while living abroad (46%), although such percentages varied considerably among the five family-based admission categories.\nSince FY2000, increasing numbers of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens have accounted for all of the growth in family-based admissions. Between FY2000 and FY2009, immigrants who accompanied or later followed principal (qualifying) immigrants averaged 12% of all family-based admissions annually. During that period, Mexico, the Philippines, China, India, and the Dominican Republic sent the most family-based immigrants to the United States.\nEach year, the number of foreign nationals petitioning for LPR status through family-sponsored preferences exceeds the supply of legal immigrant slots. As a result, a visa queue has accumulated of foreign nationals who qualify as immigrants under the INA but who must wait for a visa to immigrate to the United States. As such, the visa queue constitutes not a backlog of petitions to be processed but, rather, the number of persons approved for visas not yet available due to INA-specified numerical limits. As of November 1, 2015, the visa queue included 4.5 million persons. \nEvery month, the Department of State (DOS) produces its Visa Bulletin, which lists \u201ccut-off dates\u201d for each of the four numerically limited family-based admissions categories. Cut-off dates indicate when petitions that are currently being processed for a numerically limited visa were initially approved. For most countries, cut-off dates range between 1.5 years and 12.5 years ago. For countries that send the most immigrants, the range expands to between 2 and 23 years ago.\nLong-standing debates over the number of legal immigrants to admit each year regularly place scrutiny on family-based immigration and revive debate over its proportion of total lawful permanent admissions. Proposals for overhauling family-based admissions have been made by numerous observers, including two congressionally mandated commissions.\nThose who have favored expanding the number of family-based admissions point to this sizable queue of prospective immigrants who have been approved for lawful permanent residence but must wait years separated from their U.S.-based family members until receiving a numerically limited immigrant visa. They support expanding the numerical limits of family-based categories. Others question whether the United States has an obligation to reconstitute families of immigrants beyond their nuclear families. They favor eliminating several family-based preference categories and favoring only those for the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. Such arguments reiterate recommendations made by earlier congressionally mandated commissions on immigration reform.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43145", "sha1": "ed0c688ada64ff6ab25d73e3957d39aa8ed55de3", "filename": "files/20160217_R43145_ed0c688ada64ff6ab25d73e3957d39aa8ed55de3.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43145", "sha1": "732b0e345912c1b15e65cc0cbde21c9958b7b9b9", "filename": "files/20160217_R43145_732b0e345912c1b15e65cc0cbde21c9958b7b9b9.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 676, "name": "Immigration Policy" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc491047/", "id": "R43145_2014Nov19", "date": "2014-11-19", "retrieved": "2015-01-27T19:40:46", "title": "U.S. Family-Based Immigration Policy", "summary": "This report provides an examination of family-based immigration policy. In doing so, it outlines a brief history of U.S. family-based immigration policies, discusses current law governing admissions, and summarizes recommendations made by previous congressionally mandated committees charged with evaluating immigration policy. It then presents descriptive figures on legal immigrants entering the United States during the past decade and discusses the sizable queue of approved immigrant petitioners waiting for an immigrant visa. It closes by discussing selected policy issues.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20141119_R43145_da941aceb1c9f687250e6c9c7b7399c6d8ef25a0.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20141119_R43145_da941aceb1c9f687250e6c9c7b7399c6d8ef25a0.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration policy", "name": "Immigration policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration law", "name": "Immigration law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration", "name": "Immigration" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc227884/", "id": "R43145_2013Jul11", "date": "2013-07-11", "retrieved": "2013-11-05T18:07:05", "title": "U.S. Family-Based Immigration Policy", "summary": "Report that provides background information and discussion related to immigration issues.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20130711_R43145_a5f1c55f9cc0f87de40426a518a00137c55b4fe9.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20130711_R43145_a5f1c55f9cc0f87de40426a518a00137c55b4fe9.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration policy", "name": "Immigration policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration law", "name": "Immigration law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immigration", "name": "Immigration" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Immigration Policy" ] }