47,000 Nigerians Naturalise As US Citizens In 4 Years

A full 47,819 Nigerians person naturalised arsenic United States citizens betwixt 2019 and 2023, according to the updated US Naturalisations Annual Flow Report released successful August 2025 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Compiled by the Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS), the study got its figures from Form N-400 applications and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) lawsuit files that way each exertion from fingerprinting to the oath ceremony.

In the 2020 fiscal year, October 2019 to September 2020, 8,930 Nigerians were sworn successful contempt COVID-19 disruptions that paused oath ceremonies for 11 weeks betwixt March and June 2020.

Naturalisation numbers surged the pursuing twelvemonth arsenic USCIS cleared its pandemic backlog, granting US citizenship to 10,921 Nigerians. The upward inclination peaked successful 2022, erstwhile 14,438 Nigerians took the oath—an all-time precocious and a 32 per cent summation from 2021. However, the fig dipped to 13,530 successful 2023.

Altogether, the 4 years produced astir 48,000 caller Nigerian-American citizens, representing astir 1.4 per cent of the 341,884 Africans naturalised successful that period.

The OHSS listed Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) among the apical 30 naturalisation root countries worldwide. While Nigerians led Africa with 47,819 caller citizens, the DRC astir doubled its tally successful 2022 to astir 6,000. Other African countries connected the database included Ethiopia, Ghana, and Kenya.

Overall, African-born nationals accounted for 11 per cent of each U.S. naturalisations successful 2022 and 2023, the highest stock connected record, up from an mean of 9.6 per cent successful the erstwhile decade. Naturalisation of Africans roseate by 43 per cent betwixt 2020 and 2023, the fastest maturation complaint among each regions.

Africans who naturalised successful 2023 had a median of six years arsenic lawful imperishable residents earlier taking the oath, the shortest waiting play globally, matched lone by Asians.

Across each regions, Mexico produced the highest fig of caller U.S. citizens during the three-year window, with 437,697 naturalisations. India followed with 230,164, portion the Philippines accounted for 180,073. Cuba (159,393), the Dominican Republic (116,523), Vietnam (113,487), China (113,126), Jamaica (77,335), El Salvador (73,489), and Colombia (65,486) besides made the apical ten. Collectively, these countries accounted for much than fractional of the 3.3 cardinal naturalisations completed.

The DHS emphasised that naturalisation is not automatic, but earned nether strict statutory and regulatory requirements of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952.

“To beryllium considered for naturalisation, an applicant indispensable conscionable statutory and regulatory requirements and record a Form N-400, Application for Naturalisation, with due documentation,” the section explained.

“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducts an probe and introspection of each naturalisation applicants, which includes completion of information and transgression inheritance checks, reappraisal of the applicant’s implicit migration record, interview(s) with oral and written testimony, investigating for English and civics requirements, and qualifications for accommodations oregon disablement exceptions. Following approval, USCIS schedules applicants for a required oath ceremonial earlier a justice oregon authorised enforcement subdivision official.”

Naturalisation, DHS added, “confers U.S. citizenship upon applicants who person fulfilled the requirements established successful the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

Applicants indispensable beryllium astatine slightest 18, clasp lawful imperishable nonmigratory presumption for astatine slightest 5 years (or 3 if joined to a U.S. citizen), show continuous residence, conscionable carnal beingness thresholds, and beryllium bully motivation quality with attachment to the U.S. Constitution.

For decades, Europeans dominated U.S. naturalisations. But the 1965 amendments to the INA, which abolished national-origin quotas, shifted the scenery successful favour of Asia and Africa. By the 1970s, Asia overtook Europe; since 2020, Africa has recorded the fastest growth.

The OHSS noted that Africans present walk a median of six years successful imperishable nonmigratory presumption earlier naturalising, 1 twelvemonth quicker than the planetary average, underscoring the region’s increasing footprint successful America’s migration story.