With US President Donald Trump signing an executive order to end birthright citizenship in the US, things just got tougher for the Indians in the US, who are already seeing declining rates of citizenship.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data shows that Indians formed the second largest cohort after Mexicans in the total number of US citizenships granted in the last 12 years. However, the share of Indians in the total US citizenships granted has been declining since Biden came to power in 2021.

During Obama’s second stint (2013-2016), 1,76,152 Indians were granted US citizenship. This number grew to 2,15,738 in Trump’s first stint (2017-2020) and further rose to 2,31,563 in Biden’s recent term. However, the share of Indians in total citizenships granted by the US has come down from an average of 7.4 per cent during Trump’s term to 6.7 per cent during Biden’s.

The US grants citizenship to immigrants by the process of Naturalisation, which offers foreign nationals the same rights and responsibilities as those held by the US-born. Generally, a non-citizen must spend at least 5 years as a lawful permanent resident (i.e. hold a green card) to be eligible for naturalization while a spouse of a US citizen must spend at least 3 years as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR).

Overall, the number of persons granted US citizenships grew just under 1 per cent from Obama’s second stint to Trump’s first administration. However, it soared 18 per cent in Biden’s term due to both processing of Covid backlogs and Biden’s reversal of Trump’s harsher immigration practices.

In FY2024, the median duration for Indian green card holders to be granted citizenship was 6 years. The median years has remained in the 6-7 years range for Asians in the last decade.

Related Topics