{
  "id": "RL31381",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31381",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 380594,
      "date": "2011-02-28",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T01:03:39.374508",
      "title": "U.S. Immigration Policy on Temporary Admissions",
      "summary": "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. These visa categories are commonly referred to by the letter and numeral that denotes their subsection in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); for example, 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.\nThe 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) 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 \u201cgrounds for inadmissibility\u201d of the INA, which include criminal, terrorist, and public health grounds for exclusion.\nU.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors in DHS tallied 163 million temporary admissions of foreign nationals to the United States during 2009. Mexican nationals with border crossing cards and Canadian nationals traveling for business or tourist purposes accounted for the vast majority of admissions to the United States, with approximately 126.8 million entries in FY2009. The remaining categories and countries of the world contributed 36.2 million admissions in FY2009. Since many types of visas allow people to depart and re-enter the United States, the CBP data record multiple admissions during the same year. \nIn FY2009, DOS\u2019s consular officers issued 5.8 million nonimmigrant visas. Nonimmigrant visas issued abroad had dipped to 5.0 million in FY2004 after peaking at 7.6 million in FY2001. Combined, visitor visas issued for tourism and business comprised the largest group of nonimmigrant visas in FY2009, with about 4.1 million, down from 5.7 million in FY2000. Other notable groups were 0.7 million students and exchange visitors (12.3%) and 0.5 million temporary workers, managers, executives, and investors (8.7%). \nAccording to the most recent analysis, there were 1.8 million nonimmigrants who maintained a residence in the United States in 2008. Of the 1.8 million nonimmigrants, 50.8% (0.93 million) were temporary workers and their families, 32.2% (0.59 million) were students and their families, 13.1% (0.24 million) were exchange visitors and families, and 3.8% (0.07 million) were diplomats, other representatives, and their families. Although most nonimmigrants must demonstrate that they are not coming to reside permanently in the United States, many ultimately adjust their status to become legal permanent residents. \nThe law and regulations set 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.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL31381",
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31381",
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    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc463098/",
      "id": "RL31381_2009Jan15",
      "date": "2009-01-15",
      "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41",
      "title": "U.S. Immigration Policy on Temporary Admissions",
      "summary": "This report begins with a synthesis of the nonimmigrant categories according to the purpose of the visa. It discusses the periods of admission and length of stay and then summarizes grounds for inadmissibility and removal as well as reasons for termination of status. It describes the circumstances under which nonimmigrants may work in the United States and follows with an analysis of nonimmigrant admissions. The report concludes with a discussion of issues, followed by two detailed tables analyzing key admissions requirements across all nonimmigrant visa types.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
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          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20090115_RL31381_52724be2a9b881d2132e48be806129c9f68dec34.html"
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      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Immigration",
          "name": "Immigration"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Immigration policy",
          "name": "Immigration policy"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Visas",
          "name": "Visas"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Admission of nonimmigrants",
          "name": "Admission of nonimmigrants"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc818483/",
      "id": "RL31381_2008Jan31",
      "date": "2008-01-31",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "U.S. Immigration Policy on Temporary Admissions",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
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      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815538/",
      "id": "RL31381_2007Feb07",
      "date": "2007-02-07",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "U.S. Immigration Policy on Temporary Admissions",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
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        {
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      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815714/",
      "id": "RL31381_2007Jan25",
      "date": "2007-01-25",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "U.S. Immigration Policy on Temporary Admissions",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20070125_RL31381_7be097119a576d0a3de1e3cc299d0db3aa0f8334.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Immigration Policy",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}