Latest figures from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Naturalisations Annual Flow Report shows that a total of 34,289 Nigerians were granted American citizenship between 2020 and 2022.

The figures from the Office of Homeland Security Statistics are pulled from Form N-400 – the application form for every would-be American files and drawn from the electronic case files that US Citizenship and Immigration Services use to track each applicant from fingerprinting to the oath ceremony.

A breakdown of the figures shows that 8,930 Nigerians became naturalised citizens between October 2019 and September 2020. The period included an 11-week COVID-19 shutdown – March 18-June 4, 2020 when all oath ceremonies were temporarily halted.

In 2021, 10,921 Nigerians obtained citizenship while in 2022, 14,438 Nigerians took the oath, an all-time high for the country and a 32 per cent jump from the previous year.

The three years add up to 34,289 new Nigerian-American citizens, making up around three per cent of all 248,553 Africans who naturalised in that period.

When the OHSS grouped naturalisations by country of birth, only two African nations – Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo – were in the global top-30 list.

More Nigerians were naturalised within that period, followed by the DRC, whose naturalisations almost doubled in 2022 to about 6,000.

Other African applicants from Ethiopia to Ghana, Kenya and beyond are bundled into the “All other countries” category.

Overall, naturalisations of Africans jumped 40 per cent between 2021 and 2022, the highest increase per region recorded.

Across all regions, Mexico accounted for 326,237 naturalisations for the three years.

India followed with 171,114 naturalisations, steadily rising from 48,111, 57,043 and 65,960 for 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The Philippines supplied 135,313 new Americans, Cuba (126,203), the Dominican Republic (81,303), Vietnam (80,177), the People’s Republic of China (82,376), Jamaica (57,145), El Salvador (52,399), and Colombia (48,396).

Together, the 10 countries of birth accounted for almost half of all 2.4 million naturalisations completed during the three-year window.

The USCIS notes that application volumes and approvals do not always move in lockstep. Some petitions are denied, while others are decided in a later fiscal year.

The United States’ naturalisation of foreign nationals is based on its Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.

USCIS, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, screens applicants, runs FBI name checks and fingerprint searches, reviews five years (three if married to a U.S. citizen) of continuous residence, and tests English literacy and civics knowledge.

According to the Department, “To be considered for naturalisation, an applicant must meet statutory and regulatory requirements and file a Form N-400, Application for Naturalisation, with appropriate documentation.

“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducts an investigation and examination of all naturalisation applicants, which includes completion of security and criminal background checks, review of the applicant’s complete immigration record, interview(s) with oral and written testimony, testing for English and civics requirements, and qualifications for accommodations or disability exceptions.

“Following approval, USCIS schedules applicants for a required oath ceremony before a judge or authorised executive branch official.

“Generally, to be eligible for naturalisation, applicants must be at least 18 years of age when they submit the Form N-400, establish that they have been a lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States for at least five years at the time of filing the Form N-400, and have resided continuously in the United States for at least five years as a lawful permanent resident immediately preceding the date of filing the Form N-400 and up to the time of admission to citizenship.”

For decades, European immigrants dominated U.S. naturalisations. The 1965 amendments to the INA, which abolished the old national-origins quota, opened the door to Asia and, later, Africa.

The OHSS report notes that Asia overtook Europe in the 1970s; since 2020, Africans have posted the fastest growth rate, spending a median of six years in permanent-resident status before naturalising, one year quicker than the global average.

The number of U.S. naturalisations rose to slightly more than 969,000 persons in 2022, up 19 per cent from 814,000 naturalisations in 2021 and up 34 per cent from the 2010–2020 average of 721,000.

With the agency now processing cases faster than they come in, Nigerian applicants who filed after October 2024 may be taking the oath as early as the following summer. (PUNCH)