In law, an alien is generally any person (including an organization) who is not a citizenship or a nationality of a specific country,[ although definitions and terminology differ across legal systems.
]
Lexicology
The term "alien" is derived from the Latin alienus. The Latin later came to mean a stranger, a foreigner, or someone not related by blood.[Oxford Latin Dictionary entry for Alienus] Similar terms to "alien" in this context include foreigner and lander.[Van Houtum, Henk. "The mask of the border." The Routledge Research Companion to Border Studies. Routledge, 2016. 71-84.]
Categories
Different countries around the world use varying terms for aliens. The following are several types of aliens:
-
legal alien any foreign national who is permitted under the law to be in the host country. This is a very broad category which includes travel visa holders or foreign tourists, registered , temporary residents, permanent residents, and those who have relinquished their citizenship and/or nationality.
[ ("Loss of nationality by native-born or naturalized citizen; voluntary action; burden of proof; presumptions")] Categories of legal alien include
-
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.
-
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.
-
nonresident alien any foreign national who is lawfully within a nation but whose legal domicile is in another nation.
-
alien enemy (or enemy alien) any foreign national of any country that is at war with the host country.
[ ("Alien enemies"); ("Prisoners of war or enemy aliens")]
-
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.
Common law jurisdictions
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 real property and were subject to different taxes to British subject.[William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (1753), Book 1, Chapter 10] 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 illegal residents (technically called "unlawful non-citizens").[ Key Issue 5. Citizenship Fact Sheet 5.2 Citizenship in Australia Retrieved 2012-03-05.] 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.
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.
Canada
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."[ Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27)]
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the British Nationality Act of 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.[ section 51, British Nationality Act 1981] The Aliens Act of 1905, the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act of 1914 and the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act of 1919 were all products of the turbulence in the early part of the 20th century.
United States
In the United States, the term "alien" is as synonymous with foreign national.[ (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 Green card, as defined by section 1101(a)(20) of title 8.").] Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of the United States, "the term 'alien' means any person not a citizen or national of the United States."[ ("The term 'person' means an individual or an organization.")] People born in American Samoa or on Swains Island are statutorily "non-citizen nationals."
Every refugee that is admitted to the United States under automatically becomes an "immigrant" and then a "special immigrant" after receiving a green card.
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.[See, e.g., ; ; ; ("An illegal alien ... is any alien ... who is in the United States unlawfully...."); ] Several provisions even mention the term "unauthorized alien".
Since the U.S. law says that 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.
]
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.
"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.[" The protected classes covered under the New York City Human Rights Law are:Age Alienage or Citizenship Status"]
Other jurisdictions
Arab states
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.
See also
-
Alien land laws
-
Alien Tort Statute
-
California Alien Land Law of 1913
-
Gaijin
-
Laowai
-
Persona non grata
-
Unaccompanied Alien Children
Notes and references
External links
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Noncitizen Voting Rights: A Survey of an Emerging Democratic Norm, 2003
