Living in America: How can lawful permanent residents attain US citizenship?

India is the second-largest source country for new citizens in America after Mexico. Nearly 66000 Indians officially became American citizens in 2022, according to Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.

An estimated 46 million foreign-born persons resided in the United States in 2022, approximately 14 per cent of the total US population of 333 million, according to American Community Survey data from the US Census Bureau.

Of these, 24.5 million, about 53 per cent, reported their status as naturalised citizens.

In its latest “US Naturalisation Policy” report of April 15, the independent Congressional Research Service in the fiscal year 2022, a total of 969,380 individuals became naturalised US citizens.

Based on the latest available data, CRS said in 2022, as many as 128,878, Mexican nationals became American citizens. They were followed by Indians (65,960), the Philippines (53,413), Cuba (46,913), the Dominican Republic (34,525), Vietnam (33,246) and China (27,038).

Naturalization is the process that grants U.S. citizenship to lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who fulfill requirements established by Congress and enumerated in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

In general, U.S. immigration policy gives all LPRs the opportunity to naturalize, and doing so is voluntary. To qualify for citizenship, LPRs in most cases must have resided continuously in the United States for five years, show they possess good moral character, demonstrate understanding of the English language, and pass a U.S. government and history examination, which is part of their naturalization interview.

Naturalization is often viewed as a milestone for immigrants and a measure of their civic and socioeconomic integration into the United States. Naturalized immigrants gain important rights and benefits, including the right to vote, security from deportation in most cases, access to certain public-sector jobs, and the ability to travel with a U.S. Pa ssport. U.S. citizens are also advantaged over LPRs for sponsoring relatives to immigrate to the United States. In FY2023, 878,500 new U.S. Citizens naturalized.

Adjustment of status is the process that you can use to apply for lawful permanent resident status (also known as applying for a Green Card) when you are present in the United States. This means that you may get a Green Card without having to return to your home country to complete visa processing. A Green Card (officially known as a Permanent Resident Card allows you to live and work permanently in the United States.

According to CRS as of 2023, a total of 2,831,330 foreign-born American nationals were from India, which is the second largest number after Mexico’s 10,638,429. Mexico and India are followed by China with 2,225,447 foreign-born American nationals.
However, as many as 42 per cent of the India-born foreign nationals living in the US are currently ineligible to become US citizens, the CRS report said.

As of 2023, as many as 290,000 India-born foreign nationals who were on Green Card or Legal Permanent Residency (LPR) were potentially eligible for naturalisation.

(Input from Agencies)