Puerto Ricans?

[yasmina27]

My niece is engaged to a very nice guy from Puerto Rico. My husband is convinced he is an illegal and just using her to stay in the country. I know PR is part of the US and that the people there are citizens of the US. Are there any special immigration requirements for Puerto Ricans, or do they have the right to live, work, and visit the US at will? The latter is what I believe. My husband, however, thinks otherwise. I checked the INS website, but couldn't find anything specific about PR's living in the US.

I hope it's ok to post this here. I looked for a PR board under states and countries, but didn't see one. If there is a more appropriate place for the post, please move it.

TIA!

[MonkeyFunk]

1. Puerto Ricans

are US Citizens.

[Flubadubya]

10. A Puerto Rican soldier just died in Iraq this past week...

saw the name listed on This Week's "In Memorium". So, I'd say they are United States citizens. :thumbsup:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

2. All we have to do is get on a plane to any state in the US.

There is no difference between traveling between states and the island.

[yasmina27]

3. Thank you!

I knew I was right! :-)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. Actually I was approached by my Dominican friend a while back

to marry her cousin so that she could stay in the country legally.

[Octafish]

5. I was born in Puerto Rico. Thus, I am a citizen of the United States.

Thanks to a dumbed-down news media and watered-down public education, many mainland U.S. citizens today have misconceptions about the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. While officially part of the United States, a possession obtained (or, a spoil of war) during the Spanish-American War, the island enjoys quasi-independent status with its own territorial government. While the residents do not have to pay federal income tax, they do not have the ability to vote for President or enjoy representatives in the United States House or Senate. However, because I live in Michigan, I can vote for President and my representatives here. I also pay federal income tax. My fellow Puerto Rican (Borinqueños) citizens also have the obligations of service that their fellows on the mainland, such as being subject to a military draft. During World War II, my grandfather and three of his brothers served as active duty members of the United States military-- all were officers.

[OlderButWiser]

6. I'm kind of surprised that...

...the US Army was enlightened enough during WW II to 'allow' Puerto Ricans to be officers at that time.

[CK_John]

7. Do you realize that we worried about have to fight a third front in South America.

The Nazi's had a large presence in our back yard, Where was their greatest battle ship holed up at. The PR National Guard was the biggest units between us and Florida. Also during the war Cuba was still a US possession and many Cuban served as well.

[Octafish]

11. FDR was some kind of President, eh?

He knew better than to judge a man by where he was from or what he looked like. Unlike so many since then, President Roosevelt also knew how to do what was best for ALL Americans.

My grandfather served as a Captain in the Army artillery, then he was transferred to a unit charged with giving officers advanced training. His oldest brother was in the Navy and served as an XO on a submarine. Another brother was a doctor aboard an aircraft carrier. Another served in the Marines as a company commander in the South Pacific, where he had some truly awful experiences. His family said he was never the same.

My grandfather's cousin served with Gen. MacArthur and remained on Corregidor after the General was ordered to evacuate. He survived the Bataan Death March and then the horrible trip to Japan, where officers killed one another for a scrap of food and sip of water. He died about a year before the liberation of Japan.

The only time I saw my dad cry -- he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis -- was when he recounted a story involving my grandfather and his best friend. They guyy was a company commander in the Army. The night before his unit shipped out of Panama for England and D-Day, there was a going-away party. Captain Espada gave my dad, then about 7, a basketball as a gift. The NAZIs machine-gunned him in France.

My great-grandfather was born in Wisconsin. He originally came to Puerto Rico as an Army medic during the Spanish-American War. He liked the island so much, he returned to live there after his enlistment was up. During World War II, he served on the draft board and made certain his own sons were in service. All but one served, the exception being a banker who was needed in that capacity. All were college-educated by the time the war began, incidently.

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Here ya go-- the Jones-Shafroth Act made...

Puerto Ricans citizens of the US while establishing a commonwealth government down there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones-Shafroth_Act

(I thought everybody learned about Puerto Rico in 8th grade civics)

[pitohui]

9. puerto ricans are united states citizens

i don't see why your husband gets to make up his own fun facts

you found nothing about puerto rico at INS because as united states citizens, there is no reason for puerto ricans to be under their purview

someone from puerto rico has the same right to work, travel, etc. in other u.s. states and territories as, say, someone from louisiana or ohio


i've visited puerto rico myself w.out a passport, as a united states citizen, i did not have to pass thru customs -- of course, since it is an island, you do get checked by the u.s.dept. of agriculture, as when visiting hawaii, and no one would deny the hawaiian's status as a united states citizen