About a million immigrants received US citizenship in 2022: this is a record figure in the last few years

Nearly one million adult immigrants became US citizens in fiscal year 2022, the third-highest annual rate in US history. CBS.

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In the 7-month period ending September 12, 30 adults took the oath of allegiance at naturalization ceremonies across the country, according to a report from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released Dec. 967. Taking into account cases where children obtained citizenship from their US citizen parents and other naturalizations, a total of 400 immigrants became US citizens in fiscal year 2022.

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According to historical government statistics, the number of adult immigrants who became U.S. citizens was only greater in 1996 and 2008, with 1 and 040 adults, respectively, naturalizing.

Most naturalized citizens acquire citizenship after living in the US as permanent residents for three or five years, depending on how they obtained legal residence. Those who serve in the military can go through a special accelerated naturalization process. Applicants are also usually required to prove that they can read, write, and speak English and understand US history and government.

Immigrants with US citizenship can vote in federal elections, obtain US passports, and sponsor family members to come to the US on an expedited basis. The top five countries of birth for immigrants who became naturalized U.S. citizens in fiscal year 2022 were Mexico, India, the Philippines, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, according to USCIS.

This surge of new citizens came as a result of President Biden directing federal agencies to advance naturalization by removing bureaucratic hurdles in the citizenship process, expediting cases, and developing a nationwide strategy to encourage eligible immigrants.

Citing the directive, USCIS canceled the Trump administration's review of citizenship issues in naturalization, which critics say made it harder for immigrants to pass the test, a requirement for most citizenship applicants. The agency has also expanded remote video interviews for naturalization cases.

In an interview, USCIS Director Ur Juddoo said the agency launched public awareness campaigns to make the naturalization process more accessible and made it easier to process citizenship cases for US military personnel. In March 2021, USCIS held the first televised military naturalization ceremony.

“It is good for a nation when people become fully part of this nation, join it as fully as possible,” Jaddu said. “This has been a priority from the very beginning of this administration.” And we're going to continue to focus on making sure that people who want to be Americans can become Americans.”

Jaddu said the campaign to encourage naturalization among eligible immigrants must be balanced with the heavy workload at USCIS, including ongoing efforts to reduce the sheer backlog of applications that have undermined the agency's ability to quickly process many petitions.

As of June 30, USCIS handled more than 8,7 million immigration cases, ranging from green card applications to asylum requests and work permits, according to government statistics. The number of pending citizenship cases was 666, down 473% from the end of fiscal year 20.

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In its Fiscal Year 2022 Progress Report, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services noted that, along with the State Department, which reviews foreign visa applications, it processed a record high 275 work-based green cards. It also introduced a rule to help immigrants affected by work permit delays by increasing automatic work permit renewals for those who apply for one.

In addition to pending cases, USCIS has also recently struggled to bolster its finances. The predominantly paid agency faced financial collapse at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a temporary but dramatic drop in applications and the suspension of in-person interviews and other services. While USCIS was able to prevent mass layoffs, it did impose a moratorium on hiring, which was only lifted in March 2021.

Juddoo argued that the Trump administration's spending policies and decisions also contributed to the financial crisis, saying USCIS was in a "jeopardy" at the start of the Biden administration. When she had less than $200 million in her treasury, some employees left the agency and contracts with support staff were terminated.

Thanks to millions of dollars in congressional funding over the past year, Juddoo said USCIS has been able to stabilize the agency's finances, orchestrate a surge in immigration judge hiring and reduce backlogs for some programs.

“The good news is that we have recovered from this experience. Our financial situation is much better,” Jaddu said.

But Juddoo also said that USCIS will need additional funding from Congress to further cut the agency's multimillion-dollar cases and manage a growing number of humanitarian programs, some of which don't charge application fees.

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Over the past year, USCIS has been tasked with processing various applications from tens of thousands of Afghans and Ukrainians who have been resettled in the US. The agency's other humanitarian missions include screening some asylum seekers along the US-Mexico border and handling requests from immigrants applying for temporary protected status programs, which have surged under Biden.

In fiscal year 2023, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is expected to issue a rule to increase fees for applying to certain programs. This will allow more immigrants to pay additional fees for faster processing of their cases. The service will also introduce a mechanism for submitting additional online applications, as opposed to the paper and mail model that the agency has relied on for decades.

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