The United States granted citizenship to 34,289 Nigerians between 2020 and 2022, according to the latest Naturalisations Annual Flow Report released by the US Department of Homeland Security.
The report, compiled by the Office of Homeland Security Statistics, draws its data from Form N-400—the application form for naturalisation—as well as electronic case files used by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to track applicants from fingerprinting to oath ceremony.
Between October 2019 and September 2020, 8,930 Nigerians became naturalised citizens, despite an 11-week COVID-19 shutdown from March 18 to June 4, 2020, that temporarily halted oath ceremonies. In the following year, 10,921 Nigerians were naturalised as USCIS cleared its pandemic backlog. By 2022, the number had surged to 14,438—a 32 per cent increase and the highest annual total on record for Nigeria.
Together, these three years account for 34,289 Nigerian naturalisations, representing about three per cent of the 248,553 Africans who became US citizens during that period. Only two African nations—Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—appeared in the global top 30 list for country of birth among new citizens. The DRC followed Nigeria, with its numbers nearly doubling in 2022 to around 6,000.
Applicants from other African countries like Ethiopia, Ghana, and Kenya were grouped under the “All other countries” category. Overall, naturalisations of Africans rose by 40 per cent between 2021 and 2022—the highest regional increase reported.
Globally, Mexico led with 326,237 naturalisations during the three-year period. India followed with 171,114, showing a steady rise year over year: 48,111 in 2020, 57,043 in 2021, and 65,960 in 2022. Other major contributors included the Philippines (135,313), Cuba (126,203), the Dominican Republic (81,303), Vietnam (80,177), China (82,376), Jamaica (57,145), El Salvador (52,399), and Colombia (48,396). These ten countries accounted for nearly half of all 2.4 million naturalisations completed during the period.
The USCIS notes that not all applications are approved in the same fiscal year, as some are denied or processed later. Naturalisation is governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which outlines strict eligibility requirements. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, have lived in the US as lawful permanent residents for at least five years (or three years if married to a US citizen), and pass background checks, interviews, and tests in English and civics.
Historically, US naturalisations were dominated by European immigrants. However, the 1965 amendments to the INA abolished national-origin quotas, opening the door to more immigrants from Asia and Africa. According to the report, Asia surpassed Europe in naturalisation numbers in the 1970s, and since 2020, Africa has recorded the fastest growth rate. Africans now spend a median of six years as permanent residents before naturalising—one year faster than the global average.
In total, the number of naturalisations in the US reached just over 969,000 in 2022, marking a 19 per cent increase from 814,000 in 2021 and a 34 per cent rise from the 2010–2020 average of 721,000.
With USCIS now processing cases faster than they are received, Nigerians who filed their applications after October 2024 may be eligible for oath ceremonies as early as the following summer.
