Immigration Terms and Definitions

Immigration Form I-698
Application to Adjust Status From Temporary to Permanent Reside

Immigration Form N-565
Application for Replacement Naturalization Citizenship Document

Immigration Form I-864A
Affidavit of Support Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member

Alien
Any person not a citizen or national of the United States.

Deferred inspection
Authorized at the port upon alien’s arrival; may be conferred by an immigration inspector when aliens appear at a port of entry with documentation, but after preliminary examination, some question remains about their admissibility which can best be answered at their point of destination.

Immigration Form I-687
Application for Status as a Temporary Resident Under Section 245A of the Immigration and Nationality Act

Immigration Form I-765
Application for Employment Authorization

Priority Date
In the USCIS Immigrant visa petition application process, the priority date is the date the petition was filed. If the alien relative has a priority date on or before the date listed in the visa bulletin, then he or she is currently eligible for a visa.

Cancellation of Removal
A discretionary benefit adjusting an alien’s status from that of deportable alien to one lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

Immigration Act of 1990
Public Law 101-649 (Act of November 29, 1990), which increased the limits on legal immigration to the United States, revised all grounds for exclusion and deportation, authorized temporary protected status to aliens of designated countries, revised and established new nonimmigrant admission categories, revised and extended the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, and revised naturalization authority and requirements