Legal Definitions - foreign national

A foreign national is a person or organization who is not a citizen of the United States, but is a citizen of a foreign country. While widely used, U.S. immigration law, such as the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), uses the term "alien" to refer to such individuals.

Foreign National

A foreign national is an individual or an organization that is not a citizen of the United States. Instead, they hold citizenship in, or are legally established within, another country.

While U.S. immigration law often uses the term "alien" to describe a person who is not a U.S. citizen, "foreign national" is a widely understood and commonly used term to describe individuals or entities from outside the United States.

• Example 1: A tourist from Canada travels to Florida for a vacation. Since this individual holds Canadian citizenship and not U.S. citizenship, they are considered a foreign national during their visit to the United States.

• Example 2: A software engineer from India obtains a temporary work visa to join a tech company in Seattle. Even though they are living and working in the U.S., their citizenship remains Indian, which means they are a foreign national under U.S. law.

• Example 3: A large automobile manufacturer headquartered in Germany decides to open a new production plant in South Carolina. Because the company is incorporated and operates primarily under German law, it is considered a foreign national entity in the context of U.S. business and legal regulations.