About 800,000 people became American citizens in 12 months.
By Raif Karerat
Individuals of Asian origin comprise the largest group of new Americans on a state-by-state basis, according to recent data released by the Department of Homeland Security.
Almost 800,000 people decided to become American citizens in the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, 2013 — and more than a third of them came from the world’s most expansive continent.
According to a breakdown by MarketWatch, Indians made up the biggest group of naturalized citizens in 9 American states.
DHS counts 779,929 people who were naturalized across the U.S. in the 2013 fiscal year, up 3 percent from a year earlier but 25 percent fewer than the record 1,046,539 who were naturalized in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2008.
Asians consisted of 275,700 of them, followed by the 271,807 from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Europeans, which comprised the majority of naturalized immigrants a century ago, were 80,333 of the year’s naturalizations. By country, the most substantial groups after Mexico are India, Philippines, Dominican Republic and China.
According to the DHS’s technical categorization, naturalized citizens “are foreign nationals who have become citizens of the United States after fulfilling requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act.”
They generally must have been a permanent resident of the U.S. for at least five year — three years if the spouse is American — and pass a citizenship exam.