Authorized Immigration

What you need to know

The United States is home to more immigrants than any other country in the world. While the U.S. made up just 4 percent of the global population in 2024, it was home to 17 percent of all international migrants.

In 2025, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which reshaped parts of the legal immigration system.
This brief reviews how people immigrate to the U.S. through authorized pathways, what OBBBA changes, and what we know about who is coming to the country today.

What are the legal ways to immigrate?

Individuals seeking to live in the United States can become Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) through the following channels:

Family reunification (66% of LPRs)
Employment-based sponsorship
Refugee or asylum status
Diversity lottery visas
Special categories such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or humanitarian parole

Some individuals enter on temporary visas to be students or seasonal workers, but these approaches do not offer a path to permanent residency.

Where are immigrants coming from?

The largest number of immigrants coming to the U.S. was originally from Mexico. Though this brief is primarily interested in authorized immigration, the population from the data in the following chart includes naturalized citizens, LPRs, legal nonimmigrants (people on student or work visas), those admitted under refugee or asylee status, and persons illegally residing in the United States.

Source: Migration Policy Institute (2024)

What does the OBBBA change?

The OBBBA imposes a wide range of new and increased fees on legal immigrants. These provisions shift more of the cost of legal immigration onto applicants, with many fees indexed to rise with inflation.

Mandatory $100 minimum asylum application fee
$550 fee for initial Employment Authorization Documents for asylum seekers
$1,000 minimum fee for individuals granted parole
$250 fee for Special Immigrant Juvenile status
TPS application fee raised from $50 to $500
$250 Visa Integrity Fee for nonimmigrant visa applicants (reimbursable upon legal completion of visa stay)
$24 fee for Form I-94
New $100–$275 recurring annual fees for asylum applicants, parolees, and TPS recipients to maintain or renew work authorization
Electronic System for Travel Authorization application cost raised to a $23 minimum
New $30 Electronic Visa Update System enrollment fee
New $5,000 penalties for noncitizens apprehended after failure to appear or between ports of entry
Makes asylum fees mandatory instead of discretionary

The OBBBA also tightens eligibility rules for federal benefit programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Medicare, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits. These restrictions apply even to some lawfully present noncitizens, such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and LPRs.

SNAP is prohibited for undocumented, temporary visa holders, and asylum seekers
Medicaid eligibility narrowed; states must cover 100% of the cost for undocumented and temporary visa holders
Medicare is limited to citizens, LPRs, and certain lawful categories
ACA premium subsidies are excluded for TPS, DACA, asylum seekers, and others

The Takeaway

While the OBBBA does not change who is eligible to immigrate to the United States, it does increase the costs for those using legal pathways.

For asylum seekers, parolees, and TPS recipients, OBBBA introduces recurring fees.

Additionally, OBBBA restricts the access of legal immigrants to federal benefit programs, including SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, and ACA tax credits. This limited access also applies to some immigrants who are lawfully present and were previously eligible for these programs.

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Sources

U.S. House of Representatives. (2025). H.R.1 – One Big Beautiful Bill Act. https://tinyurl.com/3da4zeb3 (Accessed 7/23/2025)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (2025). Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office. https://tinyurl.com/3ez54epw (Accessed 7/23/2025)

U.S. Census Bureau. (1999). Foreign-born population: 1990 Census and 1997 CPS. https://tinyurl.com/3fwzpm6z (Accessed 7/23/2025)

U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). The foreign-born population: 2022 American Community Survey brief. https://tinyurl.com/y4zv9eke (Accessed 7/23/2025)

Center for Immigration Studies. (2025). Foreign-born number and share of U.S. population at all-time highs in January 2025. https://tinyurl.com/4zcj4b6f (Accessed 7/23/2025)

Migration Policy Institute. (2024). Frequently requested statistics on immigrants and immigration in the United States. https://tinyurl.com/ywz8ep2r (Accessed 8/8/2025)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2025). Temporary Protected Status. https://tinyurl.com/8wzw6836 (Accessed 7/23/2025)

NAFSA: Association of International Educators. (2024). Budget law imposes new immigration fees. https://tinyurl.com/ybc6rdbc (Accessed 7/23/2025)

Contributors

Lindsey Cormack (Content Lead) is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Stevens Institute of Technology and the Director of the Diplomacy Lab. She received her PhD from New York University. Her research explores congressional communication, civic education, and electoral systems. Lindsey is the creator of DCInbox, a comprehensive digital archive of Congress-to-constituent e-newsletters, and the author of How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It’s Up to You to Do It) and Congress and U.S. Veterans: From the GI Bill to the VA Crisis. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, Big Think, and more. With a drive for connecting academic insights to real-world challenges, she collaborates with schools, communities, and parent groups to enhance civic participation and understanding.

‍William Bianco (Research Director) is Professor of Political Science at Indiana University and Founding Director of the Indiana Political Analytics Workshop. He received his PhD from the University of Rochester. His teaching focuses on first-year students and the Introduction to American Government class, emphasizing quantitative literacy. He is the co-author of American Politics Today, an introductory textbook published by W. W. Norton, now in its 8^th edition, and authored a second textbook, American Politics: Strategy and Choice. His research program is on American politics, including Trust: Representatives and Constituents and numerous articles. He was also the PI or Co-PI for seven National Science Foundation grants and a current grant from the Russell Sage Foundation on the sources of inequalities in federal COVID assistance programs. His op-eds have been published in The Washington Post, Indianapolis Star, Newsday, and other venues.

An earlier version of this policy brief was researched by Everything Policy interns Mary Stafford and Zul Norin, drafted by Griffin Reid, and edited by Dr. Nicholas Clark and Dr. William Bianco, with the assistance of subject matter expert Dr. Alexandra Filindra.