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Glite Dictionary
INS

INS

195 8.1
A former United States government agency that enforced immigration and citizenship laws
  • noun
  • /ɪnɛs/
  • Jargon
translation icon : Servicio de Inmigración y Naturalización
  • The INS provides guidelines for immigrants applying for permanent residency.
  • INS petition
  • INS Naturalization Service
  • INS form

Examples

  • She received a letter from the INS confirming her citizenship status.

  • This is the INS.

    Coneheads (1993)

  • However, new regulations were promulgated by the INS, U.S. Department of State, and U.S. Department of Labor.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The extension application is made by filing INS Form I-539, Application for Extension of Nonimmigrant Stay.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The applicant submitted his paperwork to the INS for review before his visa interview.

Synonyms

Immigration and Naturalization Service
vsINS
  • Formal
7 4.9

A former United States government office that handled immigration and becoming a citizen

focuses on enforcing laws rather than managing rules and procedures

Idioms

ins and outs
  • Informal
19 5.3

The details of a job or task you must learn to do well

Surface Forms

INS singular
INSs plural

Morphology

INS = immigration + naturalization + service (opaque) = I + N + S

The letters correspond directly to the full phrase 'Immigration and Naturalization Service', so knowledge of those words makes the meaning clear, but the initialism formation is not a standard productive morphological process for most learners.

Etymology

INS is short for Immigration and Naturalization Service, with immigration meaning 'people moving to a country' and naturalization meaning 'becoming a citizen'. It was the U.S. agency in charge of immigration and citizenship, which is why INS appears in older documents about visas and citizenship before it was replaced in 2003.