Puerto Rico Immigration Laws

All persons born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941 are U.S. citizens at birth. Travel between Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland is domestic travel requiring no passport or immigration processing.

Non-U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico must comply with the same federal visa, work authorization, and immigration requirements as in any U.S. state. USCIS processes all immigration applications under the same rules.

Foreign nationals need work authorization to be employed in Puerto Rico. The same visa categories available on the mainland (H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, etc.) apply in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico residents do not vote in presidential elections and have only a non-voting representative in Congress, which limits their ability to influence federal immigration policy. Some federal benefit programs apply differently in territories than in states.

The Puerto Rico Department of State provides certain services to foreign nationals, including apostille and authentication services, but immigration enforcement and adjudication remain exclusively federal functions.