The United States Department of State (DOS),or simply the State Department,is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nations,its primary duties are advising the U.S. president on international relations,administering diplomatic missions,negotiating international treaties and agreements,protecting citizens abroad and representing the U.S. at the United Nations. The department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building,a few blocks from the White House,in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington,D.C.;"Foggy Bottom" is thus sometimes used as a metonym.
A green card,known officially as a permanent resident card,is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. Green card holders are formally known as lawful permanent residents (LPRs). As of 2023,there are an estimated 12.7 million green card holders,of whom 9 million are eligible to become United States citizens. Approximately 18,700 of them serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.
The H-1B is a foreign worker visa in the United States that allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in so-called specialty occupations. The regulation and implementation of the visa program is carried out by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services within the United States Department of Homeland Security.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is a bureau of the United States Department of State reporting to the under secretary of state for management. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws,formulate regulations and implement policies relating to the broad range of consular services and immigration.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and immigration system. It is a successor to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS),which was dissolved by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and replaced by three components within the DHS:USCIS,Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Visitors to the United States must obtain a visa from one of the U.S. diplomatic missions unless they are citizens of one of the visa-exempt or Visa Waiver Program countries.
Thomas Alfred Shannon Jr. is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2016 to 2018. In early 2017,Shannon served as acting United States Secretary of State until President Donald Trump's nominee,Rex Tillerson,was confirmed. He was also acting Deputy Secretary of State of the United States until the Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee,John J. Sullivan.
Kenneth Thomas "Cooch”Cuccinelli II is an American lawyer and politician who served as the acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party,he also served as the Principal Deputy and acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and was Attorney General of Virginia from 2010 to 2014.
Mayer Brown is a global white-shoe law firm,founded in Chicago,Illinois,United States. It has offices in 27 cities throughout the Americas,Asia,Europe,and the Middle East,with its largest offices being in Chicago,Washington,D.C.,New York City,Hong Kong,and London.
Philip Seth Goldberg is an American diplomat and government official who has served as United States ambassador to South Korea since 2022. He served previously as ambassador to the Philippines,Bolivia and Colombia and chief of the U.S. mission in UN-administered Kosovo during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. He has served in Washington as assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research. In 2022,he was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the U.S. ambassador to South Korea and was confirmed on May 5,2022 by the United States Senate through a voice vote.
Under the public charge rule,immigrants to the United States classified as Likely or Liable to become a Public Charge may be denied visas or permission to enter the country due to their disabilities or lack of economic resources. The term was introduced in the Immigration Act of 1882. The restriction has remained a major cause for denial of visas and lawful permanent residency ever since;in 1992,about half of those denied immigrant and non-immigrant visas for substantive reasons were denied due to the public charge rule. However,the administrative definition of "public charge" has been subject to major changes,notably in 1999 and 2019.
EB-2 is an immigrant visa preference category for United States employment-based permanent residency,created by the Immigration Act of 1990. The category includes "members of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent",and "individuals who because of their exceptional ability in the sciences,arts,or business will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy,cultural or educational interests,or welfare of the United States,and whose services in the sciences,arts,professions,or business are sought by an employer in the United States". Applicants must generally have an approved Permanent Labor Certification,a job offer,and their employer must have filed an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker with the USCIS.
Maureen Elizabeth Cormack is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2015 to 2019. She served as acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from August to September 2021.
Joseph Yuosang Yun is an American diplomat. He is the former U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations,appointed in March 2022 by President Joe Biden to negotiate amendments to the Compact of Free Association (CFA),the agreement governing the relationship between the United States and the Freely Associated States (FAS) of the Federated States of Micronesia,the Republic of the Marshall Islands,and Palau.
Form I-130,Petition for Alien Relative is a form submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services by a United States citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident petitioning for an immediate or close relative intending to immigrate to the United States. It is one of numerous USCIS immigration forms. As with all USCIS petitions,the person who submits the petition is called the petitioner and the relative on whose behalf the petition is made is called the beneficiary. The USCIS officer who evaluates the petition is called the adjudicator.
The R-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows travel to the United States for service as a minister or other religious occupation. Between October 2019 and September 2020,there were 2,399 R visas issued.
Lee Francis Cissna is an American lawyer and government official who served as Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2017 to 2019. Prior to assuming that role,he was the Director of Immigration Policy in the Office of Policy of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Julie Jiyoon Chung,birth name as Chung Ji-yoon,is a Korean-American diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka since 2022. She previously served as Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the United States Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA). Her first overseas assignment was in Guangzhou,China. Chung has later served in several posts in Japan,Vietnam,Thailand,Cambodia,Colombia and Iraq.
Ur Mendoza Jaddou is an American attorney who served as the director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security from 2021 to 2025.
Jennifer B. Higgins is an American government official serving as the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) since January 20,2025and its deputy director since 2022. She was previously the acting chief of staff to the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security from 2021 to 2022.
