|
|
| S-5
Visa |
Certain
Aliens Supplying Critical Information Relating to a Criminal
Organization or Enterprise. |
| S-6
Visa |
Certain
Aliens Supplying Critical Information Relating to Terrorism. |
| S-7
Visa |
Qualified
Family Member of S-5 or S-6.
|
| Safe
Haven |
Temporary
refuge given to migrants who have fled their countries of origin to
seek protection or relief from persecution or other hardships, until
they can return to their countries safely or, if necessary until they
can obtain permanent relief from the conditions they fled. |
| Service
Centers |
Five
offices established to handle the filing, data entry, and adjudication
of certain applications for immigration services and benefits. The
applications are mailed to INS Service Centers -- Service Centers are
not staffed to receive walk-in applications or questions.
|
Special Agricultural Workers
(SAW) |
Aliens
who performed labor in perishable agricultural commodities for a
specified period of time and were admitted for temporary and then
permanent residence under a provision of the Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986. Up to 350,000 aliens who worked at least 90 days
in each of the 3 years preceding May 1, 1986 were eligible for Group I
temporary resident status. Eligible aliens who qualified under this
requirement but applied after the 350,000 limit was met and aliens who
performed labor in perishable agricultural commodities for at least 90
days during the year ending May 1, 1986 were eligible for Group II
temporary resident status. Adjustment to permanent resident status is
essentially automatic for both groups; however, aliens in Group I were
eligible on December 1, 1989 and those in Group II were eligible one
year later on December 1, 1990. |
| Special
Immigrants |
Certain
categories of immigrants who were exempt from numerical limitation
before fiscal year 1992 and subject to limitation under the
employment-based fourth preference beginning in 1992; persons who lost
citizenship by marriage; persons who lost citizenship by serving in
foreign armed forces; ministers of
religion and other religious workers, their spouses
and children; certain employees and former employees of the US
Government abroad,
their spouses and children; Panama Canal Act immigrants;
certain foreign medical school graduates,
their spouses and children; certain retired employees of international
organizations, their spouses and children; juvenile court dependents;
and
certain aliens serving in the US Armed Forces, their spouses and
children. |
| Special
Naturalization Provisions |
Provisions
covering special classes of persons whom may be naturalized even though
they do not meet all the general requirements for naturalization.
Such
special
provisions allow: 1) wives or husbands of US citizens to file for
naturalization after three years of lawful permanent residence
instead of the prescribed five years; 2) a surviving spouse of a US
citizen who served in the armed forces to file his or her
naturalization application in any district instead of where he/she
resides; and 3) children of US citizen parents to be naturalized
without meeting certain requirements or taking the oath, if too young
to understand the meaning. Other classes of persons who may qualify for
special consideration are former US citizens, servicemen, seamen, and
employees of organizations promoting US interests abroad. |
| Sponsor |
The
word
sponsor does not appear anywhere in the U.S. immigration laws. When
people refer to a sponsor for immigration purposes, they usually mean a
petitioner. A sponsor can be a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident or
U.S. employer who undertakes to bring an immigrant legally into the
U.S. Close U.S. relative or U.S. employers who need your services in
their businesses are the only ones with the legal ability to act as
sponsors. When they do so, they are called petitioners. Years ago, any
willing U.S. citizen could bring any foreigner into the U.S. simply by
vouching for his or her character and guaranteeing his or her financial
support. Under the present U.S. Immigration laws, this type of
sponsorship is no longer possible. |
| SS-5 |
Application
for a Social Security Card. |
| SS-5SP |
Solicitud
Para una Tarjeta de Seguro Social. |
| Stateless |
Having
no nationality. |
| Status |
When
a foreign national enters the U.S., they acquire a status. This
term refers to the condition of legal presence within the U.S. |
| Stowaway |
An
alien coming to the United States surreptitiously on an airplane or
vessel without legal status of admission. Such an alien is subject to
denial of formal admission and return to the point of embarkation by
the transportation carrier. |
| Student |
As
a nonimmigrant class of admission, an alien coming temporarily to the
United States to pursue a full course of study in an approved program
in either an academic (college, university, seminary, conservatory,
academic high school, elementary school, other institution, or language
training program) or a vocational or other recognized nonacademic
institution. |
| Subject
to the Numerical Limit |
Categories
of legal immigrants subject to annual limits under the provisions of
the flexible numerical limit of 675,000 set by the Immigration Act of
1990. The largest categories are: family-sponsored preferences,
employment-based preferences, and diversity
immigrants. |
| Sub
offices |
Offices
found in some Districts that serve a portion of the District's
jurisdiction. A Sub-office, headed by an Officer-in-Charge, provides
many services and enforcement functions. Their locations are
determined, in part, to increase convenience to INS' customers. |
|