Alien (law)

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Template:Legal status

In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.[1]

Categorization

Types of "alien" persons are:

  • An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country. This is a very broad category which includes tourists, guest workers, legal permanent residents and student visa resident aliens.
  • An alien who has temporary or permanent residence in a country (which is foreign to him/her) may be called a resident alien of that country. This is a subset of the aforementioned legal alien category.
  • An alien who is visiting a country (which is foreign to him/her) may be called a nonresident alien of that country. This is a subset of the aforementioned legal alien category.
  • An alien who is present in a country (which is foreign to him/her) unlawfully or without the country's authorization is known as an illegal alien of that country.[2] An undocumented alien commonly refers to a foreign national who resides in another country unlawfully, either by entering that country at a place other than a designated port-of-entry or as result of the expiration of a non-immigrant visa.
  • An enemy alien is an alien who is a national of an enemy country.

Specific jurisdictions

  • In Australia, alien status is regarded in relationship to citizenship status. The following documents normally constitute evidence of Australian citizenship:
    • a valid Australian passport
    • a birth certificate issued by or on behalf of an Australian state or territory (only for those born before 20 August 1986)
    • a certificate of evidence of Australian citizenship
    • an Australian naturalisation certificate
    • a certificate of Australian citizenship by descent

Some people who live in Australia are not Australian citizens - they are either permanent residents; temporary residents; or illegal residents (technically called "unlawful-non citizens").[3] Most non-citizens (i.e. those who lack citizenship documents) travelling to Australia must obtain a visa prior to travel. The only exceptions to this rule are members of the British royal family, and holders of New Zealand passports and citizenships who may apply for visas after travel according to the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. [4]

  • In Latvian passports, alien is used for non-citizens (nepilsoņi): former citizens of USSR who don't have voting rights for parliament of Latvia but have specific rights and privileges under Latvian law and international bilateral treaties like they are simultaneously allowed to travel without visas both to EU and Russia, that is not possible for citizens.
  • In U.S. law, an alien is "any person not a citizen or national of the United States."[7] The U.S. Government's use of alien dates back to 1798, when it was used in the Alien and Sedition Acts.[8] U.S. law makes a clear distinction between aliens and immigrants by defining immigrants as a subset of aliens.[7] Although U.S. law provides no overarching explicit definition of the term "illegal alien," the term is used in many statutes[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and elsewhere (e.g., court cases, executive orders). U.S. law also uses the term "unauthorized alien."[18][19][20][21][22] U.S. immigration laws do not refer to illegal immigrants, but in common parlance the term "illegal immigrant" is often used to refer to any illegal alien.[23] Because at law, a corporation is a person, the term alien is not limited to natural humans because what are colloquially called foreign corporations are technically called alien corporations. Because corporations are creations of local state law, a foreign corporation is an out of state corporation.

Etymology

"Alien" is derived from the Latin alienus, meaning stranger, alien, foreign. Similar words in other languages are also derived from it, for example Italian "Aliense". Among others, "Aliense" was the sobriquet of the Sixteenth Century painter Antonio Vassilacchi, (1556 – 1629), who was so named because of being a Greek who spent most of his life and artistic career in Venice.

See also

References

  1. ^ ""alien"". Dictionary.law.com. December 9, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  2. ^ ""illegal alien"". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  3. ^ Key Issue 5. Citizenship Fact Sheet 5.2 Citizenship in Australia http://www.cccs.law.unimelb.edu.au/download.cfm?DownloadFile=98E80E9C Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  4. ^ "Australia's Visitor and Temporary Entry Provisions" (PDF). Joint Standing Committee on Migration, Parliament of Australia. September 27, 1999. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  5. ^ section 51, British Nationality Act 1981
  6. ^ [1][dead link]
  7. ^ a b 8 USC 1101
  8. ^ "Alien and Sedition Acts". Ourdocuments.gov. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  9. ^ "2 USC 658". Cornell University Law School. February 22, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  10. ^ "8 USC 1252c". Cornell University Law School. March 29, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  11. ^ "8 USC 1330". March 29, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2011. {{cite web}}: Text "Law.cornell.edu." ignored (help)
  12. ^ "8 USC 1356". Cornell University Law School. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  13. ^ "8 USC 1365". Cornell University Law School. March 29, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  14. ^ "8 USC 1366". Cornell University Law School. September 30, 1996. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  15. ^ "8 USC 1621". Cornell University Law School. August 22, 1996. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  16. ^ "42 USC 6705". Cornell University Law School. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  17. ^ "49 USC 40125". Cornell University Law School. November 1, 1999. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  18. ^ "8 USC 1188". Cornell University Law School. June 1, 1986. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  19. ^ "8 USC 1255". Cornell University Law School. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  20. ^ "8 USC 1324". Cornell University Law School. March 29, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  21. ^ "8 USC 1324a". Cornell University Law School. November 6, 1986. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  22. ^ "8 USC 1324b". Cornell University Law School. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  23. ^ "Immigration Coverage in the Crossfire" Deborah Howell, March 2, 2008, The Washington Post

External links

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