1101 note et seq. Fairness issues helped influence the second major reform, the Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. Thoroughly revamping the INA, the 1990 act allocated visas more evenly among foreign nations, eliminated archaic rules, and increased the level of worldwide immigration by 35 percent, to an annual level of 675,000. Congress slightly modified the 1990 act with the Technical Amendments of 1991. Normally, aliens wishing to enter the United States first apply for a visa at one of the over two hundred U.S. consulates and embassies abroad.
Visas are documents required for travel to most nations in the world.
For example, U.S. citizens may not simply cross the borders of Germany or Zaire without a visa. A visa is the only legal means of entry. In a larger sense, it is the key to understanding the goals and practices of immigration law. It is much easier to obtain nonimmigrant visas, which are primarily issued to tourists and temporary business visitors. In 1993, the INS admitted 21,447,000 nonimmigrants to the United States.