Indian Rush: Over 59,000 Indians Become US Citizens In 2023 (image-pixabay)
According to the annual report released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), over 59,000 Indians were granted US citizenship in the year 2023, making American the second most sought after country, following Mexico, for new citizens.
During the fiscal year 2023, around 8.7 lakh foreign nationals acquired US citizenship. The report states that out of these, 1.1 lakh Mexicans (12.7 percent of the total number of new citizens) and 59,100 Indians (6.7 percent) became US citizens.
From the newly enlisted American citizens, over 44,800 people from the Philippines and 35,200 from the Dominican Republic formed 5.1 percent and 4 percent of the total number of new citizens, respectively.
An applicant is required to fulfil all the eligibility requirements listed in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to be eligible for the process of awarding US citizenship called naturalization.
Some of the basic requirements include being a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for a minimum of five years. The USCIS report stated that some special naturalization provisions exempt certain applicants, including spouses of US citizens and applicants with a history of military service, from one or more of the general requirements for being granted US citizenship.
Out of those were naturalized in the fiscal year 2023, most people were eligible on the basis of being Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) for a minimum of five years as per the INA Section 316(a)). Followed by applicants eligible for being LPRs for three years and married to a US citizen for the same duration (INA Section 319(a)) and applicants eligible on the basis of military service during a designated period of hostilities (INA Section 329).
The report also stated that a non-citizen is required to spend at least five years as a LPR to be eligible for becoming a US citizen. However, the spouse of a US citizen is only required to spend minimum of three year as a LPR.
Based on the report, seven years was the average number of years spent as an LPR for all citizens who acquired US citizenship in the fiscal year 2023.
Moreover, naturalization between the fiscal year 2022 and 2023 made up nearly a quarter of all citizenships awarded over the past decade, under the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
An increasing number of Indians have been pursuing American citizenship, seeking to move to the country in search of employment opportunities. As per the data compiled by the Customs and Border Protection agency, between October 2022 and September 2023, around 42,000 migrants from India crossed into the US illegally, attempting to cross the country”s southern border shared with Mexico.
