It is important to familiarize yourself with the following immigration terms and abbreviations. These are common immigration terms used at USCIS offices, United States Embassies, and United States Consulates. You will also find these terms in immigration forms and other legal documents.

Our Glossary of Immigration Terms is organized in alphabetical order and divided into sections due to its extensive size. Use the menu below to locate the term you are looking for.

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Immediate Relatives
Immediate relatives are spouses of U.S. citizens, unmarried citizens’ children under the age 21, and parents of citizens 21 years of age or older. Immediate relatives are excused from the numerical limitations imposed on immigration to the United States

Immigrant
See Permanent Resident Alien.

Immigration Act of 1990
Public Law 101-649 that increased the numerical limitations on legal immigration to the United States, amended the reasons for exclusion and deportation, allowed provisional protected status to foreigners of some countries, amended and established new nonimmigrant entrance classes, amended and extended the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, and amended naturalization authority and requirements.

Immigration Judge
A lawyer selected by the Attorney General to perform as an administrative judge within the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Immigration Judges are also in charge of removal proceedings. INA Section 240, 8 USC Section 1229a.

Immigration and Nationality Act
The Act regulates the immigration, temporary admission, naturalization, and removal of aliens besides other U.S. immigration laws, treaties, and conventions.

Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986
The law that discourages immigration-related marriage fraud by stipulating that foreigners who get their immigrant status based on a marriage of less than two years are conditional immigrants and should remove their conditional status by applying at an U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office during the 90-day period before the second-year anniversary of getting the conditional status. The conditional immigrant status may be taken away and the foreigners deported if they cannot demonstrate that the marriage through which the status was obtained was and remains a valid marriage.

Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986
The law which was passed to manage and discourage illegal immigration to the United States by making illegal foreigners who have been continuously unlawfully present since 1982 legal. This ACT intended to legalize certain agricultural workers, punishing employers who intentionally employ undocumented workers, and increasing enforcement at U.S. borders.

Immigration Status
An individual’s immigration status is noted on the I-94 card by an Immigration Inspector at the U.S. port-of-entry. During the duration of a person’s stay in the U.S., this designation is very important. A visa can expire if this designation is changed while you are in the United States.

INA
See Immigration and Nationality Act.

Inadmissible
This term refers to a foreigner who wants to enter the United States, but does not meet the entrance criteria set forth in the INA. The foreigner may be then removed or permitted to remove his or her application for admission in some cases.

Industrial Trainee
See Temporary Worker.

INS
Abbreviation of "Immigration and Naturalization Service".  The INS changed its official name on March 1, 2003 to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). INS was an extension of the U.S. Justice Department with responsibility for the admission and control of aliens.

Intending Immigrant
The terms used to describe any beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition filed under INA Section 204. An intending immigrant is any individual who will accompany or follow-to-join the principal beneficiary.

International Representative
A nonimmigrant foreigner who enters the United States temporarily as a principal or other accredited representative of a foreign government to an international organization, an international organization officer or employee, and the foreigner’s spouse and unmarried children.

Intracompany Transferee
A foreigner who is engaged for at least one continuous year with an international company and who requests to come into the United States temporarily to continue his/her work for the same employer as a manager, executive, or specialized worker.

IRCA
See Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

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