The Immigration and Nationality Act, or INA, was created in 1952. Before the INA, a variety of statutes governed immigration law but were not organized in one location. The McCarran-Walter bill of 1952, Public Law No. 82-414, collected and codified many existing provisions and reorganized the structure of immigration law. The Act has been amended many times over the years, but is still the basic body of immigration law.
The INA is divided into titles, chapters, and sections. Although it stands alone as a body of law, the Act is also contained in the United States Code (U.S.C.). The code is a collection of all the laws of the United States. It is arranged in fifty subject titles by general alphabetic order. Title 8 of the U.S. Code is but one of the fifty titles and deals with Aliens and Nationality.
When browsing the INA or other statutes you will often see reference to the U.S. Code citation. For example, Section 208 of the INA deals with asylum, and is also contained in 8 U.S.C. 1158. Although it is correct to refer to a specific section by either its INA citation or its U.S. code, the INA citation is more commonly used.
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| 212(a)(l)(A)(i) | Communicable Disease |
| 212(a)(l)(A)(ii) | Immigrant lacking required vaccinations |
| 212(a)(l )(A)(iii) | Physical or mental disorder |
| 212(a)(l)(A)(iv) | Drug Abuser or Addict |
| 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) | Crime Involving Moral Turpitude |
| 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) | Controlled Substance Violators |
| 212(a)(2)(B) | Multiple Criminal Convictions |
| 212(a)(2)(C)(i) | Illicit Trafficker in Any Controlled Substance |
| 212(a)(2)(C)(ii) | Spouse, Son, or Daughter Who Benefited from Illicit Activities of Trafficker |
| 212(a)(2)(D)(i) | Prostitution (within 10 years) |
| 212(a)(2)(D)(ii) | Procuring (within 10 years) |
| 212(a)(2)(D)(iii) | Unlawful Commercialized Vice |
| 212(a)(2)(E) | Asserted immunity to avoid prosecution |
| 212(a)(2)(G) | Foreign government officials who have engaged in violations of religious freedom |
| 212(a)(2)(H) | Significant traffickers in persons |
| 212(a)(2)(I) | Money Laundering |
| 212(a)(3)(A)(i) | Espionage, sabotage, technology transfer, etc. |
| 212(a)(3)(A)(ii) | Other Unlawful Activity |
| 212(a)(3)(A)(iii) | Act to Overthrow U.S. Government |
| 212(a)(3)(B) | Terrorist Activities |
| 212(a)(3)(C) | Foreign Policy |
| 212(a)(3)(D) | Immigrant Membership in Totalitarian Party |
| 212(a)(3 )(E)(i) | Participants In Nazi Persecutions |
| 212(a)(3)(E)(ii) | Participants in Genocide |
| 212(a)(3 )(E)(iii) | Commission of Acts of Torture or Extrajudicial Killings |
| 212(a)(3 )(F) | Association with Terrorist Organizations |
| 212(a)(3)(G) | Recruitment of Use of Child Soldiers |
| 212(a)(4) | Public Charge |
| 212(a)(5)(A) | Labor Certification (immigrants only) |
| 212(a)(5)(B) | Unqualified Physician (immigrants only) |
| 212(a)(5)(C) | Uncertified foreign health-care workers |
| 212(a)(6)(B) | Failure to attend removal proceedings |
| 212(a)(6)(C)(i) | Misrepresentation |
| 212(a)( 6)(C)(ii) | Falsely claiming citizenship |
| 212(a)(6)(E) | Smugglers |
| 212(a)(6)(F) | Subject of civil penalty (under INA 274C) |
| 212(a)(6)(G) | Student visa abusers |
| 212(a)(7)(B) | Documentation requirement for nonimmigrants |
| 212(a)(8)(A) | Immigrant permanently ineligible for citizenship (IV only) |
| 212(a)(8)(B) | Draft evader |
| 212(a)(9)(A)(i) | Ordered removed upon arrival |
| 212(a)(9)(A)(i) | Ordered removed upon arrival - multiple removals |
| 212(a)(9)(A)(i) | Ordered removed upon arrival - convicted aggravated felony |
| 212(a)(9)(A)(ii) | Ordered removed or departed while removal order outstanding |
| 212(a)(9)(A)(ii) | Ordered removed or departed while removal order outstanding - multiple removals |
| 212(a)(9)(A)(ii) | Ordered removed or departed while removal order outstanding - convicted aggravated felony |
| 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(I) | Unlawfully present 181-364 days (within 3 years) |
| 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(Il) | Unlawfully present 365 or more days (within 10 years) |
| 212(a)(9)(C) | Unlawfully present after previous immigration violations |
| 212(a)(10)(A) | Practicing polygamist (immigrants only) |
| 212(a)(10)(C)(i) | International child abductor |
| 212(a)(10)(C)(ii) | Aliens supporting abductors and relatives of abductors |
| 212(a)(10)(D) | Unlawful voter |
| 212(a)(10)(E) | Former U.S. citizen who renounced citizenship to avoid taxation |
| 212(e) | Certain former exchange visitors |
| 212(f) | Presidential proclamation |
| 214(b) | Failure to establish entitlement to nonimmigrant status |
| 221(g) | Application does not comply with provisions of INA or regulations issued pursuant thereto |
| 222(g)(2) | Alien in illegal status, required to apply for new nonimmigrant visa in country of alien’s nationality |
| Sec. 103 Pub. Law 105-227 | Disclosure/trafficking of confidential U.S. business information |
| Sec. 401 Pub. Law 104-114 | Helms-Burton refusal |
| Sec. 402 Pub. Law 104-114 | Conversion of confiscated U.S. property for gain |
| Sec. 306 Pub. Law 107-173 | Inadmissible alien from a country that is a state sponsor of terrorism |
Source: USCIS