As the Trump administration pushes denaturalisation targets, US citizenship trends show a decline in Indian naturalisations and longer scrutiny of immigrants.
The Donald Trump-led US administration recently directed the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to increase its efforts to revoke citizenship of foreign-born naturalised US citizens by setting internal targets of denaturalisation.
Mexican-born citizens lead naturalisation stats
Over 0.8 million individuals became US citizens through the naturalisation route in the US in FY24 (October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024).
People born in Mexico accounted for 13.16 per cent of all naturalisations, followed by India.
Share of Indian-borns in US naturalised citizens declining
In FY24, 49,700 people born in India were naturalised as citizens of the US -- a fall of nearly 16 per cent from FY23.
This group's share out of the total approved naturalisations in FY24 was 6.07 per cent, the lowest since FY15.
Indian applicants get naturalised relatively fast
To be eligible for naturalisation, an applicant must spend at least five years as a lawful permanent resident (LPR), except in special circumstances.
The median years spent as LPR for all citizens naturalised in FY24 was 7.5 years.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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