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Are You An Illegal Immigrant?

In the United States, illegal immigration refers to the actof foreign nationals violating American immigration policies and laws throughthe entering or remaining in the country without receiving proper authorizationfrom the Federal Government.You may be termed an illegal immigrant in one of the following threeWays:

Illegally Entering the United States:referred to as Border Crossing Card Violator these individuals enter theUnited States migrate via illegal entry. A common method of border crossing isto hire professional organizations who smuggle illegal immigrants across theUnited States borders. The Mexican/American border is the most common access pointfor illegal immigration. Thismethod of illegal entry accounts for roughly 6.5 million illegal immigrantstatuses in the United States.

Overstayingyour Visa: The individual entered the United States in a legal fashion(obtained a Visa) but stayed beyond the allotted time period in the nation orviolated the terms of legal entry. Roughly 5 million migrants entered Americawith a legal visa; tourists and students are the most common groups to securevisas before travelling to the United States. Their status of a legal migrantchanges to visa overstay once the individual remains in the United Statesafter their authorized time of admission has expired. The time allotted by avisa will vary based on the visa class the individual secured. The majority ofthese illegal immigrants enter the country with tourist or business visas.

BorderCrossing Card Violations: This method accounts for a smaller number ofillegal immigrants. The Border Crossing Card is a form of identification thatenables an individual to cross into the United States for a limited amount oftime. These entry accounts for the majority of registered non0immigrant entryinto America.

Laws SurroundingIllegal Entry or Over-Staying:

An immigrant may be classified as illegal for the followingthree reasons: the individual enters without inspection or authorization, theindividual stays beyond an authorized period following legal entry, or theindividual violates the terms of legal entry.

The laws revolving around illegal entry or overstaying arefound in Section 1325 in Title 8 of the United States Code. This section,titled Improper Entry of Alien will provide a fine or imprisonment (or both)for any immigrant who:

1.Enters or attempts to enter America at anytime or location other than what was designated by the United States Government(immigration official, or

2.Any individual who eludes inspection orexamination instituted by the United States Government and its immigrationagents, or

3.Any individual who attempts to enter theUnited States by providing a false or misleading representation of oneself orthrough a willful concealment of fact.For instance, if you provide a false passport, drivers license orpretend to be anyone else, you will be charged with attempting to enter theUnited States in an illegal fashion.

The maximum prison sentence for an individual caught in theact of violating immigration policy is 6 months for the first offense andadditional 2 years for any subsequent offense.

How does the UnitedStates Enforce Illegal Immigration Laws?

The United States government is attempting to crack-down onillegal immigration. If you have over-stayed your visa or illegally crossed theborder, chances are, the United States government will uncover documentationthat leads to your imprisonment or deportation. The following methods are usedby the United States government to curb and reveal cases of illegal immigration:

Protection at theBorder: The United States Customs and Border Protection agency isresponsible for arresting individuals who attempt to illegally enter the UnitedStates. The United States Border Patrol is a uniformed law enforcement agencythat is responsible for deterring, detecting and subsequently apprehendingthose individuals who enter the United States in an illegal fashionwithoutpermission from the government and outside the designated points of entry.

WorkplaceInvestigations: The United States government conducts audits on employmentrecords (the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency initiates the audits) toreveal any discrepancies with regards to identification records and thedocumentation itself. Workplace audits may result in deportation if absoluteevidence of illegal immigration is uncovered. Immigration authorities, duringworkplace investigation, will alert employers of mismatches between anemployees Social Security card and the actual identification information ofthe card holder. In addition to employment records, an immigrants visa isperpetually updated and observed by the United States government. Simply put,the government will know, through your employer, as to when your visa expires.

What is thePunishment Associated with Illegal Immigration?

Individuals who are caught illegally immigrating will facedetention, imprisonment or deportation. The United States, per year, holdsroughly 300,000 illegal immigrants in immigration detention centers. An illegalimmigrants deportation is determined in administrative or removal proceedings,held by the government in accordance with United States immigration law. Aremoval proceeding is typically conducted in an Immigration Court and held byan immigration judge. If the individual is found guilty of illegallyimmigrating, he/she may be sent back to their home country and barred fromre-entry to the United States. Complications in deportation will arise when theparents are deemed illegal immigrants, but their children were born in America.

Laws SurroundingDeportation:

If you do not have a Visa, a Green Card or citizenship inthe United States and are currently living in the country, you are subject todeportation. Getting deported is a very serious aspect of immigration law; itis the process of the United States government removing illegal immigrants fromthe country. Deportation may eliminate your ability to secure a visa in the future.The United States Government may deport you for the following reasons:

If you enter the United States while beingdeemed legally inadmissible by the immigration laws of the federal government

Entering the country without a legal visa

Failure to renew a conditional permanentresidency visa

Aiding an illegal immigrant with entering thecountry

Conviction of a criminal offense

Endangering national or public security

Participating in a fraudulent marriage for thepurpose of securing an immigrant visa

The LegalizationProcess:

There are several ways to become a legal resident of theUnited States. The exact procedure to obtain legalization will depend on yourlocation, your background and your residency status. In most cases, before you can obtain aGreen Card (permanent residence) you must obtain a legal status. If you areresidingbecause of illegal crossing or an expired visain the United Statesas an illegal immigrant, you must obtain legalization thru your family (ifpermanent residents or American citizens), your place of employment, the UnitedStates military, thru marriage or from an educational endeavor.

This will enable you tomaintain residence in the United States for a certain period of time. It is crucialto understand that all visas have expiration datesGreen Cards and Citizenshipare permanent, not Visas. Before your expiration date, you must secure a GreenCard through marriage, the military or a family member, employment or business.

To acquire legalization you must engage in or be categorizedas one of the following: a family-based immigrant, a member of the UnitedStates Armed Forces, a worker or student with exceptional skills, anemployment-based worker, or an asylum seeker/refugee. The visas associated withthese categories are all temporary; however, they will enable you to live inthe country legally and apply for permanent residency in the future.

Legalization fromFamily Members:

A number of people become legalized by way of their familymembers. The following individuals may be eligible to legally live in theUnited States:

Any immediate relatives of American citizens,including spouses, unmarried children under the age of 21, and parents ofAmerican citizen petitioners 21 years or older.

Family members of green card holders, includingspouses and unmarried children of the sponsoring individual

A family member of an American citizen who fitsinto a preference category, including unmarried children over the age of 21,brothers and sisters of an American citizen petitioner over 21 and marriedchildren of any age.

Members of special categories, includingbattered children or spouses, individuals born to foreign diplomats in theUnited States, a widower of a United States citizen or a K non-immigrant.

Process of Legalizationthrough Family:

To promote family unity, United States immigration lawenables citizens to petition for qualified relatives to live permanently inAmerica. As stated above, eligible relatives include, spouses, unmarried childrenunder the age of 21 and parents of the U.S. citizen if over 21. Theseindividuals possess special immigration priority; they do not have to wait inline for a visa to immigrate because the government offers a chance to immediate family members of citizens or green card holders to reunite the family.

Being an immediate relative of a US citizen allows you toapply for residency through the filing of Form I-485 (Application to AdjustStatus or Register Permanent Residence). While filling this form out your Americancitizen petitioner must file Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative). Whenfiling Form I-130, your petitioner must provide proof of status to demonstratepermanent residency and must submit evidence to qualify your relationship.Permitted evidence includes: a birth certificate, divorce decree or marriagecertificate.

When your relative or spouse is petitioning, the governmentwill observe the following preference categories:

FirstPreference: All unmarried, adult sons and daughters of American Citizens(Adult encompasses all individuals over the age of 21)

SecondPreference (2A): Spouses of green card holders and unmarried children underthe age of 21 of permanent residents

SecondPreference (2B): Unmarried adult sons and daughters of green card holders

ThirdPreference: Married sons and daughters of a United States citizen

FourthPreferences: Sisters and brothers of adult American citizens.

A visa will become available to the above preferencecategories depending on their priority dates (the date the I-130 form wasfiled).

If you are livingoutside of the United States and are an immediate relative of a U.S. citizenyou can apply for permanent residency by engaging in consular processing. Thisprocedure connects the USCIS with your Department of State to issue a permanentvisa assuming the approval of Form I-130.

Legalization throughMarriage:

A fianc visa is one of the most common ways to obtaincitizenship. If you are planning on marrying a US citizen, your partner willfile the petition to award you with permanent residence. When filing thepetition, your partner must satisfy the following requirements:

The petitioner must be a citizen of the UnitedStates

The petitioner must show that they intend onmarrying you within 90 days of your entry into the United states

You and your fianc are both available to marryand previous marriages have been legally terminated by death, annulment ordivorce

You met each other in person at least oncewithin 2 years of filing the petition.

If you are living outside of the United States and are animmediate relative of a U.S. citizen you can apply for permanent residency byengaging in consular processing. This procedure connects the USCIS with yourDepartment of State to issue a permanent visa assuming the approval of FormI-130.

Legalization throughEmployment:

Every year, thousands of people are legalized through anemployment opportunity. The approval for a work visa will require certificationfrom the United States Department Labor. The United States Government, beforeissuing the visa, will investigate the need for the specific job. TheGovernment must see a lack of U.S. workers who are able, qualified, willing oravailable to satisfy the job requirements in that particular area. TheGovernment will ensure that no American workers are displaced through theissuance of the visa.

A visa will also be given for employment if you areconsidered a highly skilled worker or in possession of extraordinaryabilities in a specific field. These workers are typically sought-after by theUnited States government. For instance, in 2002, a number of computertechnicians and programmers were awarded a work visa.

Process for Acquiringa Green Card through Employment:

The majority of employment categories will require youremployer to obtain a labor certification then subsequently file Form I-140,(The Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) for you.

Green Cards may also be offered to entrepreneurs/investorswho are seeking to make a substantial investment in an entity or enterprisethat creates new jobs.

Visas for Students:

If you are interesting in becoming a full-time student inthe United States, you will need to acquire either an M-1 Student Visa or anF-1 Student Visa. To acquire temporary legalization with a student visa youmust meet the following criteria:

You must be enrolled in an educational program,a vocational program or a language-training program.

Your academic institution must be approved bythe USCIS.

You must be enrolled as a student (full-time) atthe academic institution.

You must be proficient in the English languageor be enrolled in classes leading to fluency

You must have enough money to support yourself duringthe course of study

You must maintain a home abroad that you have nointention to give up.

The F-1 Student Visa enables you to enter America as afull-time student at an accredited university, college, academic high school,elementary school or language training program. You must be enrolled in acourse of study that culminates in a degree or certificate. Your school mustalso be authorized by the United States Federal Government to acceptinternational students.

The M-1 Student Visa is for vocational students or studentsof non-academic programs (other than language courses).

Citizenship and theMilitary:

Members and certain veterans of the United States armedforces may be eligible for citizenship through their military service.Qualifying military service refers to participation in the United States Army,Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and certain branches of the NationalGuard.

Those who honorably serve in the United States ArmedServices (at any time), will be deemed eligible to apply for citizenship;however, the applicant must satisfy the following requirements:

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