Nonimmigrant

From 1906 arriving aliens were divided into immigrants, who meant to settle, and nonimmigrants, who said they did not. Nonimmigrants included tourists, business visitors, students and travelers in transit, and the class also took in aliens already living in the U.S. returning from a visit abroad. Passenger lists may carry a NON-IMMIGRANT stamp.

The label could matter for decades. A nonimmigrant who arrived after June 29, 1906 and then decided to stay could not later naturalize, because only people admitted for permanent residence could. That can explain why an ancestor who lived here for years never became a citizen.