India ranks second in providing new citizens to the US: Report
PTC News Desk: According to data from the American Community Survey by the US Census Bureau, approximately 46 million foreign-born individuals resided in the United States in 2022, constituting roughly 14 per cent of the total US population of 333 million.
Washington: The latest Congressional report reveals that India has become the second-largest source country for new citizens in the United States, with an estimated 65,960 Indians officially obtaining US citizenship. This places India just behind Mexico in terms of contributing new citizens to America.
The independent Congressional Research Service's “US Naturalisation Policy” report, dated April 15, indicates that in the fiscal year 2022, a total of 969,380 individuals were naturalised as US citizens. The report highlights that individuals born in Mexico comprised the largest number of naturalisations, followed by those from India, the Philippines, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.
As per the latest available data, in 2022 alone, approximately 128,878 Mexican nationals were naturalised as American citizens, followed by Indians (65,960), the Philippines (53,413), Cuba (46,913), the Dominican Republic (34,525), Vietnam (33,246), and China (27,038).
According to the CRS, as of 2023, there were 2,831,330 foreign-born American nationals from India, making it the second-largest group after Mexico, which accounted for 10,638,429 individuals. Following Mexico and India, China ranked third with 2,225,447 foreign-born American nationals.
However, the CRS report notes that around 42 percent of India-born foreign nationals living in the US are currently ineligible to apply for US citizenship. As of 2023, approximately 290,000 India-born foreign nationals holding Green Cards or Legal Permanent Residency (LPR) status were potentially eligible for naturalisation.
The report also acknowledges concerns over processing backlogs for naturalisation applications by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in recent years. Despite a backlog, USCIS has significantly reduced the number of pending naturalisation applications since FY2020.
By the end of FY2023, USCIS had approximately 408,000 pending naturalisation applications, down from 550,000 in FY2022, 840,000 in FY2021, and 943,000 in FY2020. In FY2023, a total of 823,702 LPRs submitted naturalisation applications. However, this number remains below the estimated 9 million LPRs eligible for naturalisation in 2023.
The report concludes that eligibility for naturalisation is contingent upon meeting specific requirements outlined in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), including being a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for at least five years.
- With inputs from agencies
