Over 59,000 Indians acquired US citizenship in 2023, making up 6.7 pc of total new citizens: Report

A new report released recently by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) found more than 59,000 Indians became US citizens in 2023, making the country the second top source country for new citizens after Mexico.

According to the official report, nearly 870,000 foreign nationals became US citizens during the fiscal year 2023 (year ending September 30, 2023), of which omore than 12.7 percent were Mexicans and 6.7 percent were Indians.

Another 44,800 (5.1 per cent) of newly enlisted American citizens were from the Philippines and 35,200 (4 per cent) from the Dominican Republic.

To be eligible for naturalization (awarding of US citizenship), an applicant must fulfill certain eligibility requirements set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

The requirements generally include being a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for at least five years. There are also other special naturalization provisions that exempt certain applicants, including certain spouses of US citizens and applicants with military service, from one or more of the general requirements for naturalization, the USCIS report stated.

Most people who acquired US citizenship in FY 2023 were eligible for naturalization on the basis of being LPRs for at least 5 years (INA Section 316(a)), followed by applicants who were eligible for being LPRs for at least 3 years and married to a US citizen for 3 years (INA Section 319(a)) and applicants, who were eligible on the basis of their military service during a designated period of hostilities (INA Section 329).

The report added that in general, a non-citizen must spend at least 5 years as a lawful permanent resident to be eligible for naturalization while the spouse of a US citizen must spend at least 3 years as a lawful permanent resident.

The median number of years spent as an LPR for all citizens naturalized in FY 2023 was 7 years.

Further, under the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), naturalization during the fiscal years 2022 and 2023 made up nearly a quarter of all naturalizations over the past decade.