Subject to is commonly used in legal English and means affected by; being under the control of something; or conditioned upon.
Here are some examples:
A person who travels to California is subject to California law (meaning: California law applies to people in California).
The number of visas that the government will issue is subject to a limit created by Congress (meaning: Congress has limited the number of visas that the government will issue so the government may not exceed that number).
Subject to the buyer paying the deposit on time, the seller will deliver the product on July 1 (meaning: If the buyer pays the deposit on time, the seller must deliver the product on July 1. If the buyer does not pay the deposit on time, the seller is not required to deliver the product on July 1.
“Exempt from” means “not affected by” or “not controlled by” so it can be used as an antonym to “subject to”.
People in California are subject to California law but ambassadors are exempt from prosecution because of their diplomatic immunity.
This visa is exempt from the statute that limits the number of visas that the government will issue.
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