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S-5 Visa
Certain Aliens Supplying Critical Information Relating to a Criminal Organization or Enterprise.
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S-6 Visa
Certain Aliens Supplying Critical Information Relating to Terrorism.
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S-7 Visa
Qualified Family Member of S-5 or S-6.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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SS-5
Application for a Social Security Card.
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SS-5SP
Solicitud Para una Tarjeta de Seguro Social.
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Stateless
Having no nationality.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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T-1 Visa
Victims of trafficking such as sex trade or forced labor.
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T-2 Visa
Spouses of T1 visa holders.
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T-3 Visa
Children of T1 visa holders.
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T-4 Visa
Parents of T1 visa holders.
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TD Visa
Spouse or Child of NAFTA Professional.
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Temporary Protected Status(TPS)
Establishes a legislative basis for allowing a group of persons temporary refuge in the United States. Under a provision of the Immigration Act of 1990, the Attorney General may designate nationals of a foreign state to be eligible for TPS with a finding that conditions in that country pose a danger to personal safety due to ongoing armed conflict or an environmental disaster. Grants of TPS are initially made for periods of 6 to 18 months and may be extended depending on the situation. Removal proceedings are suspended against aliens while they are in Temporary Protected Status.
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Temporary Resident
An alien who seeks temporary entry to the United States for a specific purpose. The alien must have a permanent residence abroad (for most classes of admission) and qualify for the nonimmigrant classification sought. The nonimmigrant classifications include: foreign government officials, visitors for business and for pleasure, aliens in transit through the United States, treaty traders and investors, students, international representatives, temporary workers and trainees, representatives of foreign information media, exchange visitors, fiance(e) of US citizens, intra-company transferees, NATO officials, religious workers, and some others. Most non-immigrants can be accompanied or joined by spouses and unmarried minor (or dependent) children.
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Temporary Worker
An alien coming to the United States to work for a temporary period of time. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and the Immigration Act of 1990, as well as other legislation, revised existing classes and created new classes of nonimmigrant admission. Nonimmigrant temporary worker classes of admission are as follows: 1) H-1A - registered nurses (valid from 10/1/1990 through 9/30/1995); 2) H-1B - workers with "specialty occupations" admitted on the basis of professional education, skills, and/or equivalent experience; 3) H-1C - registered nurses to work in areas with a shortage of health professionals under the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999; 4) H-2A - temporary agricultural workers coming to the United States to perform agricultural services or labor of a temporary or seasonal nature when authorized workers are unavailable in the United States; 5) H-2B - temporary non-agricultural workers coming to the United States to perform temporary services or labor if unemployed persons capable of performing the service or labor cannot be found in the United States; 6) H-3 - aliens coming temporarily to the United States as trainees, other than to receive graduate medical education or training; 7) O-1, O-2, O-3 - temporary workers with extraordinary ability or achievement in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; those entering solely for the purpose of accompanying and assisting such workers; and their spouses and children; 8) P-1, P-2, P-3, P-4 - athletes and entertainers at an internationally recognized level of performance; artists and entertainers under a reciprocal exchange program; artists and entertainers under a program that is "culturally unique"; and their spouses and children; 9) Q-1, Q-2, Q-3 - participants in international cultural exchange programs; participants in the Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program; and spouses and children of Irish Peace Process participants; 10) R-1, R-2 - temporary workers to perform work in religious occupations and their spouses and children.
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Transit Alien
An alien in immediate and continuous transit through the United States, with or without a visa, including, 1) aliens who qualify as persons entitled to pass in transit to and from the United Nations Headquarters District and foreign countries and, 2) foreign government officials and their spouses and unmarried minor (or dependent) children in transit.
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Transit Without Visa (TWOV)
A transit alien traveling without a nonimmigrant visa under section 233 of the INA. An alien admitted under agreements with a transportation line, which guarantees his immediate and continuous passage to a foreign destination.
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Transition Quarter
The three-month period July 1 through September 30, 1976 between fiscal year 1976 and fiscal year 1977. At that time, the fiscal year definition shifted from July 1-June 30 to October 1-September 30.
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Treaty Trader or Investor
As a nonimmigrant class of admission, an alien coming to the United States, under the provisions of a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the foreign state of such alien, to carry on substantial trade or to direct the operations of an enterprise in which he/she has invested a substantial amount of capital, and the alien's spouse and unmarried minor children. | 
