Nearly 8.7 lakh foreign nationals became US citizens during the fiscal 2023, around a lakh less than the previous year’s data of 9.7 lakh new American citizens.
Over 1.1 lakh Mexicans (12.7% of the total number of new citizens) obtained US citizenship. With 59,100 (6.7%) Indians acquiring US citizenship, India occupied the second slot as the top source country of new citizens.Five per cent or 44,800 of the new Americans were Philippines-born. The top five countries, which include the Dominican Republic and Cuba collectively comprised 32% of new citizens.
According to the annual progress report-2023 recently released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, naturalisation (awarding of US citizenship) during the fiscal years 2022 and 2023 made up nearly a quarter of all naturalisations over the past decade.
While the comparative USCIS progress report of 2022 does not provide country-of-birth data of its new citizens, an annual flow report by the department of homeland security provides such information.
Of the 9.69 lakh new American citizens in fiscal 2022, Mexico at nearly 1.3 lakh (or 13.3%) led the pack, followed by India at nearly 65,960 (or 6.8%) and Philippines at 53,413 (or 5.5%).
After holding a green card (being a lawful permanent resident) for at least five years an individual can apply for American citizenship. For individuals who have married a US citizen, the time period is reduced to three years. However, for Indians the waiting time for a green card itself runs into several decades, which in turn derails the opportunity to opt for American citizenship.