Most of the benefits conferred on special immigrants to the United States are offered to aliens with a particular status or to aliens who have a special relationship with, including service to, the U.S. However, a few categories of special immigrants do not fall into these classifications, such as children, international broadcasting employees, and victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Children
Two types of children are admissible as special immigrants, without immigrant visas, to the U.S.: children born to a female immigrant after she receives her immigrant visa; and children born to a female lawful resident of the U.S. during a visit abroad.
International Broadcasting Employees
The U.S. Congress established the Bureau of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to broadcast internationally for the U.S. government. The BBG had a difficult time attracting qualified foreign broadcasters, so Congress allowed special immigrant status to aliens working for the BBG or its grantees.
To qualify as a special immigrant in this classification, an alien must both be a broadcaster and must possess certain skills. First, he or she must meet the definition of a broadcaster, which excludes support personnel but includes news and editorial writers, editors, reporters, producers, and announcers. Second, he or she must be fluent in the language in which the international broadcast will take place and must be knowledgeable of the history and culture of the locale.
An international broadcasting employee visa is obtained for a prospective employee and his or her immediate family by the employing BBG or its grantee. The prospective employer files a petition that details the job description and the candidate's qualifications and skills. However, only 100 visas per year may be issued to actual employees, although the number issued to immediate family members is unlimited.
September 11 Victims
Aliens who lost their employment- or family-based immigration benefits because of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., are eligible for special immigrant status, as well. However, to be eligible for this special immigration classification, an alien must meet certain criteria relating to the type of benefit lost, the timing of the original petition or application, and the result of the attack. First, the alien must have lost benefits under an employment-based or family-based immigrant visa petition, fiance petition, or application for labor certification. Second, the petition or application must have been filed by the day of the attacks, September 11, 2001. Third, the alien or beneficiary must have suffered a physical or employment loss. Specifically, he or she must have died, become disabled, or lost employment because of the loss of the physical structure in which he or she worked.
Importantly, the spouse and children of an alien who meets these criteria qualifies as a special immigrant, as does a grandparent if a child's parents both died due to the September 11 attacks.
An alien who qualifies as a special immigrant in this category receives a priority date in the fourth employment-based preference, so that when that date is reached, he or she becomes eligible for an immigrant visa number.
Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
