Legal Immigration to the United States

The U.S. admits roughly 1 million lawful permanent residents (green card holders) per year, along with hundreds of thousands of refugees, asylees, and new citizens. Over the past decade, 12.2 million green cards were issued and 9.5 million people became U.S. citizens through naturalization.

~1M/yr

Green Cards

9.5M

Naturalizations

540K

Refugees (Total)

180M+

Temp Admissions/yr

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Key Insights

• Green card issuance is remarkably stable — averaging ~1018K/year despite political changes

• COVID crushed legal immigration — FY2020 green cards dropped to 707K, refugees to just 11,814

• Refugee admissions are highly political — from 85K under Obama to 12K under Trump to 100K under Biden

• Naturalizations hit near-record highs — 969K in FY2022 as pandemic backlogs cleared

Green Cards Issued by Year

Legal Immigration Trends

Refugee Admissions by Year

Legal Immigration by Fiscal Year

FY	Green Cards	Refugees	Naturalizations	Temp Admissions
FY2014	1,016,518	69,987	653,416	181.3M
FY2015	1,051,031	69,933	730,259	181.4M
FY2016	1,183,505	84,994	753,060	181.1M
FY2017	1,127,167	53,716	707,265	181.1M
FY2018	1,096,611	22,491	756,800	188.9M
FY2019	1,031,765	30,000	843,593	190.7M
FY2020	707,362	11,814	625,400	57.8M
FY2021	740,002	11,411	855,000	78.4M
FY2022	1,018,349	25,465	969,380	147.9M
FY2023	1,165,700	60,014	878,500	173.7M
FY2024	1,180,000	100,000	955,000	180.0M
FY2025	900,000	400	818,500	175.0M

How Legal Immigration Works

Legal immigration to the U.S. happens through several pathways:

Family-sponsored: U.S. citizens and green card holders sponsor relatives — the largest category (~65% of green cards)
Employment-based: Employers sponsor workers in specialty occupations, including H-1B to green card pathways (~15%)
Diversity Visa Lottery: 55,000 green cards per year allocated by random lottery to underrepresented countries
Refugees & Asylees: People fleeing persecution, admitted through overseas processing (refugees) or at U.S. borders (asylum)
Special categories: TPS, VAWA, U-visas for crime victims, SIJ for abused/neglected children

The Naturalization Pipeline

Green card holders can apply for U.S. citizenship after 5 years (or 3 years if married to a citizen). The naturalization process includes an application (N-400), biometrics, an English/civics test, and an oath ceremony. 9.5 million people completed this process in our data period — roughly 796K per year on average.

Temporary Visitors

Beyond permanent immigration, the U.S. admits roughly 180 million nonimmigrant (temporary) entries per year. This includes tourists (B-1/B-2), students (F-1), temporary workers (H-1B, L-1, O-1), and others. The vast majority depart on time — but about 1-2% overstay, making visa overstays a significant component of unauthorized immigration.