Missouri Immigration

< Back to Missouri Immigration Resources

The Category with No Limit

The immediate relatives (spouse, parents, and children) of naturalized immigrants and U.S. natives are admitted as immigrants without limit. For example, in 2001, there were 1,064,318 new immigrant admissions. Of those, 42 percent were in this unlimited category (443,964).3 Because of this category, the number of people who can immigrate to the United States has no legal limit.

As the number of immigrants in the United States grows, the number of applicants eligible for this category rises. In 1968, there were 43,677 admissions in this category; in 2001, there were 443,964 (more than ten times as many).

It is not necessary to cap this category in order to lower immigration. The only reason so many people are eligible for this category is that so many of their relatives precede them. If the limits on the other categories were lowered (and if certain categories, such as that for adult brothers and sisters, were eliminated), the number of people admitted as immediate relatives would start to fall off naturally. Many immigration experts, including the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, have suggested this sensible plan as a way of helping to restore control and integrity to our immigration system. So far, Congress has failed to act.

For example, someone who is the brother of a U.S. citizen would be in a different preference than one who is a former Soviet nuclear scientist.
For example, the unmarried adult children of alien residents have a higher preference than the siblings of U.S. citizens.
The immigrants exempt from limitation include the spouses, minor children, and parents of U.S. citizens, adjustments of status for refugee and asylees who entered in previous years, and children born abroad to legal permanent residents.

Contact Missouri Immigration Attorneys

Top of Page