Asylee

A person who has entered the United States and demonstrates a well-founded fear of persecution in her homeland based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.

Immigrant

A foreign-born individual who has been admitted to reside permanently in the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR).

Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)

A foreign-born individual who has been admitted to reside permanently in the United States

Legalization

Also known as regularization or normalization. A process to allow undocumented immigrants to adjust status to LPR after living and working in the U.S. for a specified period of time.

Non-Immigrant

A foreign-born individual who has been permitted to enter the U.S. temporarily . A non-immigrant is issued a visa. Some non-immigrant temporary visas are given to students (F-1), tourists (B-2), business executives (B-1), farm workers (H-2A), and high-tech workers (H-1B).

Refugee

A person outside of the United States who seeks protection on the grounds that she fears persecution in her homeland. The person must prove that she has a well-founded fearofpersecution on the basis of either race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.

Note: The United States accepts only a limited number of refugees from around the world each year. This number is determined every year by the President in consultation with Congress. The total number of annual “refugee slots” is divided among different regions of the world. For fiscal year 2005, the number of refugee admissions was set at 70,000. Regional ceilings re as follows:

Source: the American Immigration Lawyers Association

Undocumented Immigrant

A person present in the United States without the permission of the U.S. government. Some undocumented immigrants enter without inspection or with false documents . Others enter legally with temporary visas and overstay (4 out of 10 ). Note: No person is "illegal."