Fourth in a series on the community.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: This is the fourth installment in our ongoing series on immigration figures pertaining to the Indian American community.
The number of Indians immigrating to the US has increased tremendously over the past several years. With IT companies needing large numbers of skilled technical workers, and opportunities in fields from medicine to business multiplying annually, the US has become the destination of choice for young Indians looking to make the most of life. The looming immigration reform bill currently being fought over in Congress may have a huge effect on India-to-US immigration, if the provisions regarding higher fees for H-1B visa applicants and Green Cards come to fruition.
The following are some statistics and figures regarding the legal status of Indians in the US (All data come from MigrationInformation.org and the US Census Bureau):
66,434 – the number of Indian-born immigrants that were granted permanent residency in the US in 2012.
6% — the percentage that Indian Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) constituted of the total number of immigrants granted LPRs in 2012. The total number was 1,031,631 LPRs granted.
50% — the number of Indians granted LPRs last year who received them via employment-based channels.
48% — the number of Indians granted LPRs last year who received them via family relationships. The remaining 2% received LPR status mostly by seeking asylum in the US.
42,928 – the number of Indian-born immigrants who became naturalized US citizens in 2012.
5.6% — the percentage of total newly naturalized citizen in 2012 that were of Indian origin. The total number of newly naturalized citizens in 2012 was 757,434.
46% — roughly the number of Indian Green Card holders in 2012 that were eligible for naturalization; this percentage represents around 240,000 people.
22% — the percentage of non-immigrants (defined as temporary workers, students, exchange visitors, diplomats, other representatives, and accompanying family members) in the US in 2011 that were of Indian origin.
73% — the percentage of the preceding percentage that were in the US as temporary workers.
2nd – the ranking of India on the list of “country of origin for international students studying in the US” in 2011.
2,269 – the number of unauthorized immigrants from India that were granted a two-year reprieve from potential deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Initiative, as of 7/31/13; this makes India the 13th largest recipient of said reprieve.
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