Many Americans got their first, confusing glimpse of the country’s complex immigration system when President Donald Trump announced he was temporarily banning immigrants from seven Muslim majority countries from entering the U.S. and suspending the nation’s refugee program.
Here are the answers to some of the frequently asked questions:
What is a Green Card?
A Green Card is a permit given to immigrants who are approved to be in the country indefinitely and become known as permanent residents. Obtaining a Green Card can take decades and involves a meticulous process. Some people never receive one.
About a million people are granted permanent residency in the U.S. each year. A little less than half of them are sponsored by relatives who are American citizens, according to William Stock, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Mr. Stock says sponsors and applicants undergo interviews, criminal background checks, medical screenings and fingerprinting.
The process takes at least a year for the spouse of a U.S. citizen who has never been in the country. Immigrants with more distant relatives can wait years longer.
“If it’s a sibling, it’s 20 to 30 years for most countries,” Stock said, adding that people from Mexico and the Philippines can wait 75 years for green cards.
What is a refugee status?
Refugees from war-torn countries must be diligently vetted before they can be resettled in the U.S. The years-long process includes rigorous background checks for possible criminal and terrorist ties.
Refugees often live in camps outside their home country for years before the U.S. decides whether to accept them.
Only about 1 per cent of refugees in the world are resettled in new countries, and the U.S. takes in about half of them, the State Department says.
Refugees differ from asylum seekers. Refugees must be approved to move to the U.S. Asylum seekers arrive on their own and then seek protection by the U.S. government if they fear returning to their home country.
What is a non-immigrant visa?
Non-immigrant visas apply to people who come to the country on a temporary status, including students, competitive athletes, tourists, human trafficking victims, au pairs and diplomats.
The category also includes foreign workers such as engineers and technical experts who work for Silicon Valley companies.
Some tech companies said they were dismayed by Mr. Trump’s executive order because foreign employees represent a significant percentage of their workforces. Visas for such workers can usually be obtained within a year.
Who are affected by the move?
The following is a list of the nationalities and groups of people affected by Mr. Trump's order, which is titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States."
Refugees
The decree prohibits entry to all refugees, regardless of nationality, for 120 days. Beyond that time, the U.S. will admit a maximum of 50,000 refugee in 2017, more than halving the 110,000-person limit set by former President Barack Obama.
Syrians : All Syrians, refugee or otherwise, are forbidden from entering the U.S. until further notice.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Syrian war has forced 4.8 million people to flee the country since 2011.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in December it had recorded the deaths of 312,001 people since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
People from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya
No visas will be issued for 90 days to migrants or visitors from the seven mainly Muslim countries.
Green Card holders
The decree does not affect those who hold a U.S. Green Card. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly declared the entry of lawful permanent residents to be "in the national interest." However, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said that nationals from the seven countries named in the order should expect to be subject to increased border controls.
Visa holders
All visa holders coming from the seven specified countries are subject to the new order, with the exception of those who hold diplomatic visas or visas to international institutions such as NATO or the United Nations.
Binationals
The situation for individuals with dual nationality remains complex. U.S. officials said on Saturday that American citizens who also have a passport from one of the seven barred countries are not affected by the order.
An exemption is also granted to dual nationals holding British and Canadian passports.
Britain said its nationals would not be subject to additional checks unless they traveled directly to the U.S. from one of the listed countries.
But dual nationals who hold passports from one of the seven countries plus an additional foreign country will not be able to gain entrance.
