IMMIGRATION - IN A NUTSHELL

The US immigration system has a reputation for being notoriously complex. In many ways, it is a reputation that is well deserved. Many other countries in the world have similar regulations, but few have the immense body of law and regulation that is encountered in the American system. As lawyers we often have to explain some of these complex legal concepts, many of which are hard to understand.

One way of understanding the system is to think of the United States as a major league sports stadium. If you are a citizen, you are part owner of the team. If you have a green card, you've got box seats. If you have some other type of status, you're there just for a few games, or maybe just a single game. At each entrance to the stadium are the ticket collectors who check to see if people coming in have their tickets. Inside the stadium are security officers who will forcibly remove those who are in the wrong seats, failed to abide by stadium regulations, or commit a crime. If you want to get in, you have to have a ticket, or at least a hand stamp, and abide by the rules and regulations or risk being removed. And you can always visit the ticket office, pay fees and if you qualify, you may be able to upgrade your seats!

Sticking with this analogy a little further:

1. Generally, you need a ticket to enter.
   
2. It's much harder to get in, but once you're in, you can move around a bit more easily.
   
3. Unless you're an owner, every time you try to enter, you're going to have to show a valid ticket.
   
4. If you've been admitted and want to leave and come back, you've got to get a hand stamp before you leave, otherwise you will not be allowed back in.
   
5. Each ticket class has its own regulations, is valid for a certain game or games, and has assigned seating.
   
6. Unless you're an owner, you have no right to enter or be in the stadium. Even if you have a ticket, you can still be turned away or removed. It doesn't matter if you've held box seats for the last 20 seasons.
   
7. Oftentimes, in order to get box seats, an existing box seat holder or owner has to sponsor you, unless you have the finances to buy one yourself.
   

And that's immigration in a nutshell. Core concepts of immigration are visas, admissibility, removability, and status. The immigration law regulates who gets in, who gets to stay, and who gets kicked out. The entire body of law that has grown around these central concepts is testament to difficult a task it is to regulate the movement of humanity.

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