status
Status means a person’s legal condition, whether personal or proprietary.
In the context of immigration law, it is the name of the visa category a person has been assigned and the group of privileges received upon becoming either a permanent resident or a non-immigrant (temporary visa holder). In the case Solorzano v. Mayorkas, it is explained that “status” describes the type of permission that an individual has to be present in the United States.
Additionally, the case Succession of Goss, explains that in the context of the law of domicile (which governs and controls the status of the individual), status includes conditions such as marriage, adoption, infancy, and legitimacy.
[Last reviewed in April of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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