Alien (law)

{{short description|Person in a country not having citizenship}} {{Redirect2|Resident alien|Non-citizens|other uses|Resident Alien (disambiguation)|and|Non-citizens (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}} {{legal status of persons}}

In law, an '''alien''' is a foreign-born resident who has not been naturalized and is still a citizen or subject of a foreign country,<ref name=Britannica>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/alien-law |title=Alien |publisher=Britannica |access-date=2021-02-12|quote=Alien, in national and international law, a foreign-born resident who is not a citizen by virtue of parentage or naturalization and who is still a citizen or subject of another country.}}</ref><ref name="Garner" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://law.en-academic.com/171/alien |title=alien |publisher=law.academic.com |access-date=2018-08-17}}</ref><ref name=person/> although definitions and terminology differ across legal systems.

==Lexicology== The term "alien" is derived from the Latin ''{{Lang|la|alienus}}''. The Latin later came to mean a stranger, a foreigner, or someone not related by blood.<ref>Oxford Latin Dictionary entry for ''Alienus''</ref> Similar terms to "alien" in this context include ''foreigner'' and ''lander''.<ref>Van Houtum, Henk. "The mask of the border." The Routledge Research Companion to Border Studies. Routledge, 2016. 71-84.</ref>

===Categories{{anchor|Resident alien}}=== Different countries around the world use varying terms for foreign nationals, also called non-citizens.<ref>University of Minnesota Human Rights Center. (2003) [https://hrlibrary.umn.edu/edumat/studyguides/noncitizens.html STUDY GUIDE: The Rights of Non-Citizens].</ref> Those who have relinquished their citizenship and/or nationality may or not be an alien in the host country.<ref>{{usc|8|1481}} ("Loss of nationality by native-born or naturalized citizen; voluntary action; burden of proof; presumptions")</ref> The following are general categories:

* '''permanent resident''' {{emdash}} any immigrant who has been lawfully admitted into a nation and granted the legal right to remain therein as a permanent resident, including registered refugees, in accord with the nation's immigration laws.<ref name="immigrant">{{cite journal |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Michael |last2=Rich |first2=Mark D. |title=Foreign Investment In U.S. Real Estate-Beyond FIRPTA: Regulatory Requirements and Planning StrategiesRequirements and Planning Strategies |journal=University of Miami Business Law Review Unive |date=April 1995 |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=107}}</ref> * '''temporary resident''' {{emdash}} any foreign national who has been lawfully granted permission by the government to drive, fly, travel, lodge, reside, study or work for a specific number of years and then apply for an extension or leave the country before such permission expires.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 23, 2020 |title=Conditional Permanent Residence |url=https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-we-grant-your-green-card/conditional-permanent-residence |access-date=2021-02-10 |work=United States Citizenship and Immigration Services}}</ref> * '''nonresident alien''' {{emdash}} any foreign national, such as a travel visa holder or a foreign tourist, who is lawfully within a nation but whose legal domicile is in another nation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hennig |first1=Cherie J. |last2=Wang |first2=Ningkun |last3=Yuan |first3=Xiaoli |title=Cross-Border Taxation of Employee Stock Options |journal=The ATA Journal of Legal Tax Research |date=2006 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=59–75 |doi=10.2308/jltr.2006.4.1.59}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shuntich |first1=Louis S. |title=Estate Planning Strategies for Resident and Nonresident Aliens |journal=Journal of Financial Service Professionals |date=July 2012 |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=55–60}}</ref> * '''alien enemy''' (or enemy alien) {{emdash}} any foreign national of any country that is at war with the host country.<ref name=alien_enemy>{{cite web|url=https://blacks_law.en-academic.com/1418/alien_enemy |title=alien enemy |publisher=law.academic.com |access-date=2021-02-12}}</ref><ref>{{usc|8|1442}} ("Alien enemies"); {{usc|18|757}} ("Prisoners of war or enemy aliens")</ref> * '''undocumented alien''' (or removable alien) {{emdash}} any person who has been found to be "subject to removal" by an Immigration Judge, generally because of one of three reasons: (a) violating the terms of the visa, (b) being convicted of specified crimes, or (c) entering the territory without formal authorization.<ref>Plascencia, Luis F. B. (2015) [https://files.commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/3585/files/2018/01/illegal.undocumented-1.pdf The "Undocumented" Mexican Migrant Question: Re-Examining The Framing Of Law And Illegalization In The United States]. ''Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development'', 38(2/3/4) pp. 375-434.</ref>

==Common law jurisdictions== {{See also|History of British nationality law#Early English and British nationality law}} An "alien" in English law denoted any person born outside of the monarch's dominions and who did not owe allegiance to the monarch. Aliens were not allowed to own land and were subject to different taxes to subjects.<ref>William Blackstone, ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' (1753), Book 1, Chapter 10</ref> This idea was passed on in the Commonwealth to other common law jurisdictions.

===Australia=== In Australia, citizenship is defined in the Australian nationality law. Non-citizens in Australia are permanent residents, temporary residents, or "unlawful non-citizens".<ref>[http://www.cccs.law.unimelb.edu.au/download.cfm?DownloadFile=98E80E9C Key Issue 5. Citizenship Fact Sheet 5.2 Citizenship in Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200312064550/https://apps.law.unimelb.edu.au/farcry/core/webtop/login.cfm?returnUrl=%2Findex.cfm%3Ffurl%3D%2Fcccs%26&error=draft&showdraft=1 |date=March 12, 2020 }} Retrieved 2012-03-05.</ref> Most non-citizens (including those who lack citizenship documents) traveling to Australia must obtain a visa prior to travel. The only exceptions to the rule are holders of New Zealand passports and citizenship, who may apply for a visa on arrival according to the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/mig/report/olympics/Chap2.pdf |title=Australia's Visitor and Temporary Entry Provisions |publisher=Joint Standing Committee on Migration, Parliament of Australia |date=27 September 1999 |access-date=20 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629154251/http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/mig/report/olympics/Chap2.pdf |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 2020, in ''Love v Commonwealth'', the High Court of Australia ruled that Aboriginal Australians (as defined in ''Mabo v Queensland (No 2)'') cannot be considered aliens under the Constitution of Australia, regardless of whether they were born in Australia or hold Australian citizenship.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/high-court-rules-aboriginal-australians-cannot-be-aliens-under-the-constitution |title=High Court rules Aboriginal Australians cannot be 'aliens' under the constitution |work=SBS News |date=11 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=karp>{{cite web |last=Karp |first=Paul |title=High court rules Aboriginal Australians are not 'aliens' under the constitution and cannot be deported |website=The Guardian |date=11 February 2020 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/11/high-court-rules-aboriginal-australians-are-not-aliens-under-the-constitution-and-cannot-be-deported |access-date=11 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=byrne>{{cite web |last1=Byrne |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Robertson |first2=Josh |title=Man released from detention as High Court rules Aboriginal people cannot be deported |website=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=11 February 2020 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-11/high-court-rules-aboriginal-people-cant-be-deported/11953012 |access-date=11 February 2020}}</ref>

===Canada=== In Canada, the ''Immigration and Refugee Protection Act'' defines a foreign national as "a person who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, and includes a stateless person."<ref>[http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/page-1.html#h-2 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27)]</ref> The term "alien" is not used in federal statutes.

===United Kingdom=== {{Further|British Nationality Act}} In the United Kingdom, the British Nationality Act 1981 defines an alien as a person who is not a British citizen, a citizen of Ireland, a Commonwealth citizen, or a British protected person.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/section/51 section 51], British Nationality Act 1981</ref> The Aliens Act 1905, the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914 and the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act 1919 were all products of the turbulence in the early part of the 20th century.

===United States=== {{Further|Refugee Act of 1980|United States person}} [[File:"WARNING - ALIENS - ARMY SERVICE FORCES". (Provost Marshall General) - NARA - 516037.jpg|thumb|upright|World War II poster]] In the United States, the term "alien" is synonymous with foreign national.<ref name="foreign national">{{uscsub|52|30121|b}} (explaining that "the term 'foreign national' means.... (2) an individual who is not a citizen of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in section 1101(a)(22) of title 8) and who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined by section 1101(a)(20) of title 8.").</ref> Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of the United States, "[t]he term 'alien' means any person not a citizen or national of the United States."<ref name="Garner">{{cite book |title=alien |publisher=Black's Law Dictionary |date=June 25, 2009 |edition=9th |access-date=2018-08-17 |url=https://www.amazon.com/s?search-alias=stripbooks&field-isbn=0314199497 |last=Garner |first=Bryan A. |page=84 |quote=A person who resides within the borders of a country but is not a citizen or subject of that country; a person not owing allegiance to a particular nation. - In the United States, an alien is a person who was born outside the jurisdiction of the United States, who is subject to some foreign government, and who has not been naturalized under U.S. law. |isbn=978-0-314-19949-2}}</ref><ref name="person">{{uscsub|8|1101|b|3}} ("The term 'person' means an individual or an organization.")</ref> People born in American Samoa or on Swains Island are statutorily "non-citizen nationals."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cite.case.law/f3d/788/300/4230126/#p302 |title=Tuaua v. United States, 788 F.3d 300 |page=302 |work=D.C. Circuit |date=June 5, 2015 |publisher=Harvard Law School |access-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-date=November 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112052306/https://cite.case.law/f3d/788/300/4230126/#p302 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Others, such as natives of Palau and the Marshall Islands, are noncitizen "nonimmigrants without visas" for INA purposes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McElfish |first1=Pearl Anna |last2=Hallgren |first2=Emily |last3=Yamada |first3=Seiji |title=Effect of US Health Policies on Health Care Access for Marshallese Migrants |journal=American Journal of Public Health |date=April 2015 |volume=105 |issue=4 |pages=637–643 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2014.302452|pmid=25713965 |pmc=4358182 }}</ref>

Every refugee that is admitted to the United States under {{USC|8|1157}} automatically becomes an "immigrant" and then a "special immigrant" after receiving a green card.<ref name="immigrant"/>

[[File:Naturalization ceremony at Kennedy Space Center.jpg|left|thumb|People of various background became naturalized at Kennedy Space Center in Florida (2010). Before the naturalization they were lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens.]]

The usage of the term "alien" dates back to 1790, when it was used in the Naturalization Act and then 1798 when it was used in the Alien and Sedition Acts.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-19 |title=Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/alien-and-sedition-acts |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref> The INA contains 22 occurrences and a clear definition of the category of "alien lawfully admitted" and one occurrence of "illegal alien", with no explicit definition. The later is mentioned in a number of provisions under title 8 of the US code.<ref name="illegal alien">See, e.g., {{uscsub|8|1252c|a|1}}; {{uscsub|8|1330|b|3|A|iii}}; {{uscsub|8|1356|r|3|ii}}; {{uscsub|8|1365|b}} ("An illegal alien ... is any alien ... who is in the United States unlawfully...."); {{uscsub|8|1366}}</ref> Several provisions mention the term "unauthorized alien". "undocumented alien" or "undocumented person.<ref>{{uscsub|8|1324a|h|3}}</ref> According to PolitiFact, the term "illegal alien" scarcely occurs in federal law and is undefined or part of an introductory title or limited to apply to certain individuals convicted of felonies.” According to Jeff Baker of the Pepperdine School of Law, ‘alien’ may be a technical term of art, but ‘illegal alien’ is almost always pejorative in contemporary usage."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Selby |first=W. Gardner |date=May 9, 2018 |title=Is 'illegal alien' a term in federal law? |url=https://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2018/may/09/steve-mccraw/illegal-alien-legal-term-federal-law/ |access-date=2019-02-26 |website=PolitiFact |language=en}}</ref> The US Library of Congress replaced the term in 2021, adopting the subject headings "noncitizens" and "illegal immigration" in 2021.

There are a multitude of unique and highly complex U.S. domestic tax laws and regulations affecting the U.S. tax residency of foreign nationals, both nonresident aliens and resident aliens, in addition to income tax and social security tax treaties and totalization agreements.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.protaxconsulting.com/foreign-nationals-nonresident-resident-aliens/ |title=Foreign Nationals: Non-Resident Aliens and Resident Aliens |publisher=Protax Consulting Services}}</ref>

"Alienage", i.e., citizenship status, has been prohibited since 1989 in New York City from being considered for employment, under that city's Human Rights legislation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tyler Blint-Welsh |date=25 September 2019 |title=New York City Employers Who Say 'Go Back to Your Country' Could Face Fines |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-employers-who-say-go-back-to-your-country-could-face-fines-11569438201 |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 September 2019 |quote=Since 1989, the city's human-rights law has banned discrimination based on citizenship status or "alienage" in employment, housing and public accommodations.}}</ref><ref>"[https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cchr/law/in-housing.page The protected classes covered under the New York City Human Rights Law are:Age Alienage or Citizenship Status]"</ref>

==Other jurisdictions==

=== Arab states === {{See also|Bedoon}} In the Gulf Cooperation Council (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar), many non-natives have lived in the region since birth. However, these Arab states do not easily grant citizenship to non-natives.<ref>{{cite news |last=Habboush |first=Mahmoud |date=October 10, 2013 |title=Call to naturalise some expats stirs anxiety in the UAE |newspaper=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-emirates-citizenship-feature/call-to-naturalise-some-expats-stirs-anxiety-in-the-uae-idUKBRE99904J20131010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=November 24, 2013 |title=Say no to expats calling for Saudi citizenship |url=http://www.arabnews.com/news/482086 |website=Arab News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Harrison |first=Ryan |date=January 5, 2014 |title=GCC Citizenship Debate: A Place To Call Home |url=http://gulfbusiness.com/2014/01/gcc-citizenship-debate-a-place-to-call-home/#.VKfqDxA4Lw8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901125525/http://gulfbusiness.com/2014/01/gcc-citizenship-debate-a-place-to-call-home/#.VKfqDxA4Lw8 |archive-date=September 1, 2014 |access-date=January 3, 2015 |website=Gulf Business}}</ref> Most stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belong to indigenous northern tribes.<ref>{{cite news |last=Elbasnaly |first=Dina |date=21 July 2019 |title=Bedoons: Kuwait's stateless minority |work=Deutsche Welle |url=https://www.dw.com/en/the-bedoons-kuwaits-stateless-minority/a-49674107}}</ref>

=== Europe === The European Parliament withdrew the term "alien" from documents relative to Eurodac, a European Union-wide biometric database that collects and maintains fingerprint records of non-EU/European Economic Area (EEA), adopting "third-country national or a stateless person".<ref>EUR-Lex Document 32013R0603 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/603/oj/eng</ref>

==Notes and references== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{Wiktionary|alien|aliens}} *[https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cat.aspx Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment] *[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/biden-seeks-replace-alien-less-dehumanizing-term-immigration-laws-n1255350 Biden seeks to replace 'alien' with less 'dehumanizing term' in immigration laws] (''NBC News'', Jan. 22, 2021) *[https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199796953/obo-9780199796953-0047.xml Aliens - International Law - Oxford Bibliographies] (24 July 2013) *[http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/noncitizensen.pdf The rights of non-citizens], Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2006 *Council of Europe Commission for Democracy through Law [https://web.archive.org/web/20090214064001/http://www.venice.coe.int/docs/2007/CDL-AD(2007)001-e.asp report on noncitizens and minority rights], 2007 *D. C. Earnest [https://web.archive.org/web/20221130230734/https://ww2.odu.edu/~dearnest/pdfs/Earnest_APSA_2003.pdf Noncitizen Voting Rights: A Survey of an Emerging Democratic Norm], 2003 *University of Minnesota Human Rights Center: [http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/studyguides/noncitizens.html Study Guide: The Rights of Non-Citizens], 2003 *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120609172135/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/aliens.asp UK Aliens' registration cards on The National Archives' website.]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alien}} Category:American legal terminology Category:Expatriates Category:Human migration Category:Immigration law Category:Nationality Category:People by legal status Category:Strangers Category:United States immigration law Category:Concepts in political philosophy