Legal imigration is the process of immigration, which meets all legal regulations, standarts and requirements provided by legislation. Usually to reside in a host country you need to have a passport or other equivalent document and you need to obtain a residence permit - a document that grants you the right to reside in a certain state. In order to be a legal immigrant, all legal procedures and requirements, provided by the legislation of a hosting state, must be followed. Some states have softer immigration policies, while it may be extremely hard or nearly impossible to obtain a residence permit in others.

According to statistics, the most popular countries for immigration are European countries. Since the majority of European countries participate in the Schengen area – once you obtain a residence permit in one of the Schengen states, you may travel to any other Schengen member state without any further visa requirements. You may also reside in any other Schengen member state for 90 days without any formal registration. Such benefits combined with the generally prosperous economy of the region and the maturity of the stable democratic environment, perfectly explains why Europe is so attractive for many immigrants.

It is much harder to obtain a residence permit in such countries as Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand. There are several reasons for this. The USA has suffered from a large flow of illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico and China. This has forced the government to make immigration policy much more strict. New Zealand, Canada and Australia enforce a selective immigration policy, which means that those countries are only interested in wealthy, skilled and qualified immigrants. As a result, there are strict requirements, that must be met, in order to receive a residence permit in these locations.

Sometimes people, driven out of their country of origin by war, genocide, persecution or other act of violence, may request refugee status or asylum. This type of immigration is controversial, because a state, which has received a request for asylum, has to grant the status of refugee to a person first. Until then - a person remains an illegal immigrant. Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution." However, as was mentioned before, this type of immigration is quite controversial. Mostly, because the question of which country should provide asylum to an influx of a large number of refugees, and this can cause lengthy discussions between countries. The most common solution to the problem of absorbing large numbers of refugees – is the use of refugee camps, built by governments or non-governmental organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross – Countries can then take their time examining each individual claim for assylum.

Illegal Immigration
Illegal immigration is travelling to or staying in a country without the approriate documents, entering at an inappropriate place or by an inappropriate method. Usually illegal immigrants try to enter a wealthier country, with a better quality of life, leaving a poorer country behind. There are three main factors which provoke illegal immigration: economic factors, criminal evasion or socio-political environment – effectively anything that can provide enough pressure such that a person is willing to break the law.

In the imagination of many, the mind of an illegal immigrant may seem to be very devious and cunning – while this is not universally true, it is an understandable perception given the tactics that many such desperate people employ. Immigrants have devised more than 30 ways to cross borders illegally. While some try to use more traditional methods, such as presenting falsified documents at the border or crossing border on foot in the middle of a desert, others act like a true inventors. Some immigrants hide themselves inside car seats, some vault over a border fence with a pole, some even try to hide in a suitcase at the airport. According to statistics, chances for the success are very small, because countries, which are primary targets for illegal imigrants, usually conduct serious border control procedures, including constant border patrols and fence building, but these individuals are often desperate, so if there is a way through – they will find it.

Another type of illegal immigration, which does not involve illegal border crossing, is overstaying an otherwise valid visa. In this case immigrants arrive in the host country on a legal basis, but they stay after their visa expires or perform work or other activities that might not be permitted by their visa. This method of illegal immigration requires a lot of effort, since you are forced to evade authorities who might discover your true immigration status. This means you can be scared to involve yourself in any kinds of legal action or participate in any form of legal agreement, this can limit your ability to do such simple things as bank payments, use of credit cards, legal, taxed employment etc. As a result, this approach can be very tiring and mentally exhausting. The legal consequences illegal immigrants who get caught vary from country to country. Usually the measures vary from deportation to jail terms.

Statistics provided by the International Organization for Migration, show that almost 15% of the world's total 214 million immigrants are illegal. For the last few decades the USA has experienced one of the largest influxes of illegal immigrants in human history. The biggest problem being the US–Mexico border, which is used by many thousands of illegal immigrants each year, this in spite of all the measures taken by the US government. Currently, the number of illegal immigrants, residing in the USA, is estimated to be around 15 million people. The largest amount of illegal immigrants reside in the state of California – 2,930,000 people, which is 25% of total population of California. Technically, it means, that each fourth person you see in the street there – is an illegal immigrant! According to the data provided by the Center for Immigration Studies, 56% of illegal immigrants are from Mexico, 22% from other Latin American countries, 13% from Asia, 6% from Europe and Canada, and 3% from Africa.

The European Union suffers from illegal immigration as well. According to data provided by the BBC, 80% of illegal immigrants pass through Grece – many of them through the border with Turkey. Lack of cooperation between Greek police, coast guard and the Turkish army (which is responsible for border control) makes this situation even worse. The majority of the rest of the illegal immigrants to the EU sneak in through the United Kingdom, entering using valid visas, but then overstaying those visas and disappearing into the general population. Currently in the UK, it is estimated. resides between 550,000 and 950,000 illegal immigrants from Africa and Asia.

It is worth mentioning, that because of illegal immigration - legal immigrants are also made to suffer. The Constant flow of illegal immigrants and an inability to properly control it, leaves the host country no other choice, but to take measures to make its immigration policy stricter which in turm makes things harder on legal immigrants as well.

https://www.immigration-residency.eu/immigration-to/#legal-immigration