More than 34,000 Nigerians obtained United States citizenship through naturalisation between 2020 and 2022, according to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The Naturalisations Annual Flow Report, compiled by the DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics, ranked Nigeria 15th globally among the top 20 countries whose nationals acquired U.S. citizenship during the three-year period.
The data is sourced from Form N-400 filings, the official application for naturalisation, and tracked through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) electronic system, alongside records from the Central Index System.
Naturalisation grants foreign-born residents nearly the same rights as native citizens, including voting rights, after meeting criteria under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
The number of Nigerians naturalising in the U.S. has steadily increased over the years, rising by 58.8% during the period under review.
In 2020, 8,930 Nigerians were naturalised—1.4% of the total 628,258 naturalisations that year. The number rose to 10,921 in 2021 as USCIS worked to clear backlogs from the COVID-19 pandemic.
By 2022, naturalisations reached a record high of 14,438—a 32% year-on-year increase—representing nearly 3% of the 248,553 Africans who became U.S. citizens in that period.
Nigeria emerged as the leading African country for U.S. naturalisations, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, which nearly doubled its figure to around 6,000 in 2022. Other African countries were grouped under “All other countries” in the report.
The report noted that Africa saw the fastest growth in naturalisation globally, with a 40% increase between 2021 and 2022.
By contrast, Mexico led the world with 326,237 new citizens in the U.S., followed by India (171,114), the Philippines (135,313), and several others including Cuba, China, and Jamaica.
Historically, European migrants dominated U.S. naturalisation, but the 1965 amendment to the INA, which scrapped the national-origins quota system, paved the way for increased immigration from Asia and Africa. The report observed that Asia surpassed Europe in the 1970s, and since 2020, Africa has recorded the fastest growth rate in naturalisation.
Interestingly, African immigrants spend a median of six years as lawful permanent residents before becoming eligible for naturalisation—a year less than the global average.
