The term "alien" is derived from the Latinalienus. The Latin later came to mean a stranger, a foreigner, or someone not related by blood.[6] Similar terms to "alien" in this context include foreigner and lander.[7]
temporary resident alien — 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.[9]
permanent resident alien — any immigrant who has been lawfully admitted into a nation and granted the legal right to remain therein as a permanent resident in accord with the nation's immigration laws.[10]
nonresident alien — any foreign national who is lawfully within a nation but whose legal domicile is in another nation.[11][12]
alien enemy (orenemy alien) — any foreign national of any country that is at war with the host country.[13][14]
undocumented alien (or illegal alien) — any person who is liable to deportation because their presence in a nation is in violation of that nation's immigration laws.[15]
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.[16] This idea was passed on in the Commonwealth to other common law jurisdictions.
InAustralia, citizenship is defined in the Australian nationality law. Non-citizens in Australia are permanent residents, temporary residents, or illegal residents (technically called "unlawful non-citizens").[17] 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.[18]
In Canada, the term "alien" is not used in federal statutes. Instead, the term "foreign national" serves as its equivalent and is found in legal documents. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act defines "foreign national" as "a person who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, and includes a stateless person."[22]
Every refugee that is admitted to the United States under 8 U.S.C.§ 1157 automatically becomes an "immigrant" and then a "special immigrant" after receiving a green card.[10]
People of various background became naturalized at Kennedy Space CenterinFlorida (2010). Before the naturalization they were lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens.
The usage of the term "alien" dates back to 1798, when it was used in the Alien and Sedition Acts.[26] Although the INA provides no overarching explicit definition of the term "illegal alien", it is mentioned in a number of provisions under title 8 of the US code.[27] Several provisions even mention the term "unauthorized alien".[28] According to PolitiFact, the term "illegal alien" occurs in federal law, but does so scarcely, writing that, "where the term does appear, it's undefined or part of an introductory title or limited to apply to certain individuals convicted of felonies.”[29]
Since the U.S. law says that a corporation is a person,[4] 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.
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.[30]
"Alienage", i.e., citizenship status, has been prohibited since 1989 in New York City from being considered for employment, under that town's Human Rights legislation.[31][32]
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.[33][34][35] Most stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belong to indigenous northern tribes.[36]
^"Alien". Britannica. Retrieved February 12, 2021. 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.
^ abGarner, Bryan A. (June 25, 2009). alien (9th ed.). Black's Law Dictionary. p. 84. ISBN978-0-314-19949-2. Retrieved August 17, 2018. 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.
^"alien". law.academic.com. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
^52 U.S.C.§ 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.").
^ abRosenberg, Michael; Rich, Mark D. (April 1995). "Foreign Investment In U.S. Real Estate-Beyond FIRPTA: Regulatory Requirements and Planning StrategiesRequirements and Planning Strategies". University of Miami Business Law Review Unive. 5 (1): 107.
^Hennig, Cherie J.; Wang, Ningkun; Yuan, Xiaoli (2006). "Cross‐Border Taxation of Employee Stock Options". The ATA Journal of Legal Tax Research. 4 (1): 59–75. doi:10.2308/jltr.2006.4.1.59.
^Shuntich, Louis S. (July 2012). "Estate Planning Strategies for Resident and Nonresident Aliens". Journal of Financial Service Professionals. 66 (4): 55–60.
^"alien enemy". law.academic.com. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
^Kelly, Charles B. (December 1977). "Counting the Uncountable: Estimates of Undocumented Aliens in the United States". Population and Development Review. 3 (4): 473–481. doi:10.2307/1971686. JSTOR1971686.
^William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (1753), Book 1, Chapter 10
^Tyler Blint-Welsh (September 25, 2019). "New York City Employers Who Say 'Go Back to Your Country' Could Face Fines". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 30, 2019. Since 1989, the city's human-rights law has banned discrimination based on citizenship status or "alienage" in employment, housing and public accommodations.
