Record number of new U.S. Citizens in 2022!
Kyle Huffman • January 5, 2023
USCIS has released its Fiscal Year 2022 Progress Report, which has shown some interesting trends in the world of immigration. Most notably, USCIS was able to process over 1.1 million naturalization cases and welcome over 1 million new U.S. citizens to the United States in 2022.
This represents the highest number of naturalizations for USCIS in nearly 15 years. At the same time, these statistics show that USCIS has made great progress in reducing the backlog of applications for citizenship that had not been processed during the pandemic. While 2020 and 2021 saw the highest backlog of immigration benefit requests on record, the 2022 statistics show significant efforts to reduce those backlogs.
Along with record numbers of new citizens, the report details how USCIS’ efforts, fueled by new budgetary appropriations authorized by congress specifically to address this backlog, has resulted in significantly reducing the wait time for employment authorization applications.
USCIS also discusses its plans for the coming year 2023. Among these plans are USCIS’ commitment to improving the asylum filing process and creating greater efficiency for refugees. Increasing these processes and efficiencies would be a great improvement, particularly for this vulnerable segment of the population. Hopefully, the Biden Administration will be successful in its current efforts to end Title 42, which allows for the swift removal of some asylum seekers without proper procedure in the courts as a measure to protect public health. While the Biden Administration has been attempting to end Title 42, many Republican lawmakers are urging the courts to delay the removal of this process.
This blog is not intended to be legal advice and nothing here should be construed as establishing an attorney client relationship. Please schedule a consultation with an immigration attorney before acting on any information read here.
Kyle Huffman
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To be eligible for U.S. naturalization based on being a lawful permanent resident for at least five years, you must: Prove you have been a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. for at least five years; Demonstrate continuous residence in the U.S. for at least five years immediately before applying for naturalization; Show you have been physically present in the U.S. for at least 30 months out of the five years immediately before applying for naturalization; and Pass the naturalization test. The naturalization test consists of the English and civics test. The applicant must show his/her ability to read, write, and speak basic English. The interviewing USCIS officer will ask the applicant to read a sentence in English and to write a sentence in English. If the applicant demonstrates his/her ability to read, write, and speak English, the applicant passes this portion of the test. The civics test is an oral test, and the applicant is asked questions about the American government and history. The USCIS officer will ask the applicant up to 10 questions from the list of 100 civics test questions. To pass this portion of the test, the applicant must answer at least 6 questions correctly. If the applicant satisfies all of the eligibility requirements and passes the naturalization test, the last step before naturalizing is to attend the oath ceremony to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. If you have any questions and would like more information about your eligibility for naturalization, please contact our office to schedule a consultation with our experienced immigration attorneys.
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