Immigration Act of 1990

E66414

The Immigration Act of 1990 is a major U.S. federal law that overhauled immigration policy by significantly increasing legal immigration levels, creating new visa categories (including the diversity visa lottery), and revising grounds for exclusion and deportation.


Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
immigration law
alsoKnownAs IMMACT90
amends McCarran–Walter Act
surface form: "Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952"
changedGroundsFor deportability
inadmissibility
country United States of America
surface form: "United States"
createdProgram Diversity Immigrant Visa
surface form: "Diversity Visa Lottery"
createdStatus Temporary Protected Status
createdVisaCategory Diversity Immigrant Visa
EB-1 priority workers immigrant visa
EB-2 professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability immigrant visa
EB-3 skilled workers, professionals, and other workers immigrant visa
EB-4 special immigrants immigrant visa
EB-5 immigrant investor visa
O nonimmigrant visa for individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement
P nonimmigrant visa for athletes, artists, and entertainers
Q nonimmigrant cultural exchange visa
Temporary Protected Status
dateSigned 1990-11-29
enactedBy 101st United States Congress
establishedNumericalCap H-1B visa annual cap
increasedAnnualImmigrationCeiling approximately 675000 per year starting in 1995
approximately 700000 per year for 1992–1994
introducedConcept administrative naturalization by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
aggravated felony expansion for immigration purposes
jurisdiction United States government
surface form: "United States federal government"
limited suspension of deportation relief
longTitle Immigration Act of 1990 self-linksurface differs
surface form: "An Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to change the level, and preference system for admission, of immigrants to the United States, and to provide for administrative naturalization, and for other purposes"
modifiedVisaCategory H-1B specialty occupation visa
policyArea United States immigration reform
predecessorTo later diversity visa programs under the Immigration and Nationality Act
publicLawNumber Public Law 101-649
purpose to diversify the immigrant population by country of origin
to increase overall levels of legal immigration to the United States
to provide for administrative naturalization procedures
to revise grounds for exclusion and deportation
to revise the preference system for family-based and employment-based immigration
reformed employment-based immigration preference categories
family-sponsored immigration preference categories
relatedTo Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
shortTitle Immigration Act of 1990 self-link
signedBy George H. W. Bush
statutesAtLargeCitation 104 Stat. 4978
subjectMatter deportation and exclusion grounds
immigration policy
visa categories
yearEnacted 1990

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Immigration and Nationality Act amendedBy Immigration Act of 1990
INA amendedBy Immigration Act of 1990
subject surface form: "Immigration and Nationality Act"
Pub.L. 82–414 amendedBy Immigration Act of 1990
Immigration Act of 1990 longTitle Immigration Act of 1990 self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: "An Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to change the level, and preference system for admission, of immigrants to the United States, and to provide for administrative naturalization, and for other purposes"
Immigration Act of 1990 shortTitle Immigration Act of 1990 self-link