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Immigration Glossary - Important Terms

• Asylum: Asylum provides protection to foreign nationals that are already in the US and remain for the purpose of US protection from fear of persecution from the national’s home country based on race, religion, nationality, social affiliation, or political opinion.
• Biometrics: Identifying a person by unique biological features such as fingerprints or eye scans.(2)
• Citizen: A person that is born or naturalized in the US and subject to its jurisdiction. Citizenship affords the person all of the benefits and protections of the United States Constitution .(3) The usual way to become a citizen is either by birth within the US territory or to US citizen parents or by naturalization. Also, under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, any child under 18 that is adopted by a US parent and immigrates to the US is also allowed citizenship.(4)
• Green Card: Official immigration documentation of Lawful Permanent Residency status in the US.
• Illegal Alien: An illegal alien is any person from another country that is within the US without proper authority. This could be due to no documentation upon entry or over-staying a visa or passport’s authorized timeframe.
• Naturalization: The process that a foreign citizen or national acquires US citizenship by fulfilling US legal requirements(5) including continuous US residence and presence.
• Nonimmigrant: A foreign national seeking to enter the US for a specific purpose and a temporary period of time.
• Passport: A travel document that is recognized internationally and verifies the nationality and the identity of its bearer. The US Department of State grants, issues, and verifies US passports.(6)
• Refugee: An alien who enters the US due to that person’s home country’s persecution or well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, social affiliation, or political opinion.
• Temporary Protected Status: A temporary immigration status that is granted to aliens in the US who temporarily cannot safely return to their home country due to violence, natural disaster, or other unusual condition.(7)
• Visa: An authorization for a foreign national to enter into the US either temporarily under a nonimmigrant visa or permanently under an immigrant visa. The Department of State manages the US visa process.(8)

Immigration Enforcement
Immigration Legislation
Predominant Laws Affecting Us Immigration

Sources
(2)See http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=4542.
(3)See U.S. CONST. amend. XIV; http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship.
(4)See Pub. L. No. 106-395. See also http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/info/info_457.html (for details and frequently asked questions about the act).
(5)See http://www.uscis.gov/naturalization (for typical naturalization requirements).
(6)See http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html.
(7)See Pub. L. No. 101-649.
(8)See http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_2796.html.