More than 277,000 people born in African countries became naturalized U.S. citizens over a recent three-year period, with Nigerians making up the largest single national cohort on the continent.
Data from U.S. government sources show that 34,289 Nigerian-born residents were naturalized between 2020 and 2022, placing Nigeria at the top of the African list for that period. The figure for Nigerians was highlighted in reporting based on the Department of Homeland Security’s naturalization tables.
The wave of naturalizations comes as overall numbers of new U.S. citizens have remained substantial. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it welcomed 818,500 new citizens in fiscal year 2024 during naturalization ceremonies across the United States and abroad — part of a multi-year pattern of high naturalization flows.
The rise in naturalizations from Africa has prompted comment from U.S. authorities. In some posts and statements, U.S. missions have warned consular officers will deny visas when there is reason to believe applicants intend to travel primarily to give birth in the United States to obtain birthright citizenship for their children. Observers say that message and related visa-screening steps are part of broader efforts to manage immigration channels while the number of naturalizations stays high.
Experts point out that naturalization is only one measure of migration and that underlying trends reflect a mix of long-standing family ties, education and employment pathways, and changing migration flows. Policymakers and advocacy groups say continued monitoring of the data is important to understand impacts on communities in both origin countries and the United States.
What the numbers mean
The headline totals — roughly 277,000 African-born naturalizations over three years and more than 34,000 Nigerians in that same span — reflect recorded naturalization events, not temporary visits or short-term stays. They are drawn from U.S. government naturalization datasets and summarized by regional reporting. Analysts caution that underlying migration and eligibility dynamics (for example, years spent as lawful permanent residents before naturalization) shape how quickly different groups appear in the naturalized population counts.
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