The number of naturalized immigrants who legally entered the United States as part of a national diversity visa program has increased in recent years, but the rate of entry has remained relatively steady dating to fiscal 2020.
The U.S. State Department annually administers the Diversity Visa (DV) program, intended to admit up to 55,000 migrants from countries with low immigration rates and allow them to gain citizenship through naturalization. Visa numbers differ from the number of naturalized citizens based on the different processes utilized to attain citizenship, which in some instances can take years.
Roughly 878,500 people were naturalized and became U.S. citizens in fiscal 2023, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Naturalization ceremonies in fiscal 2022 and 2023 comprised 24 percent of all naturalizations over the past decade, according to the data.
"These individuals who are coming in on a Diversity Visa lottery, they still need to meet the naturalization requirements," a USCIS spokesperson told Newsweek. "They're coming in on green cards as legal permanent residents. They still need to meet the requirements of being here on a green card, moral character, all of that."
A noncitizen generally must spend at least five years as a lawful permanent resident (LPR) to be eligible for naturalization, while a spouse of a U.S. citizen must spend at least three years as a lawful permanent resident.
Most people who were naturalized last year were eligible based on being LPRs for at least five years, which accounted for about 82.9 percent of the total. Applicants who were eligible based on being LPRs for at least three years and married to a U.S. citizen for three years accounted for 15.6 percent.
The median years spent as an LPR for all citizens naturalized in fiscal 2023 was seven years.
The following number of immigrants gained citizenship through the DV program in the respective fiscal years:
- FY 2020 – 29,600 (representing 4.7 percent of all naturalized citizens)
- FY 2021 – 34,000 (4.2 percent)
- FY 2022 – 48,400 (5 percent)
- FY 2023 – 41,300 (4.7 percent).
Most naturalized citizens come to the U.S. as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens or through family-sponsored preference categories, followed by refugees and asylees, employment-based preference categories, and those coming via the DV program.
Asylees and refugees accounted for about one-ninth the total number of migrants naturalized during fiscal 2023 , for example, totaling more than 100,000 migrants (71,100 asylees and 29,000 refugees).
The DV program is described by the State Department as a "multi-step process with strict deadlines."
It consists of 10 steps that include submission of entries, the selection process, confirming of qualifications, submitting an immigrant visa and alien registration application, preparing and undergoing an interview based on information provided by a U.S. embassy or consulate, and ultimately being approved or denied.
Those approved are informed how and when their passport and visa will be returned to them, while those denied will be told why their applications were rejected.
Those approved must follow procedural requirements that include a sealed immigrant packet containing documents that are supposed to be presented to federal Border Patrol agents at ports of entry; paying USCIS fees; and vaccination records for children entering the U.S.
The department rejects all late entries and paper entries, as all information must be submitted via an electronic form that is free to submit.
The State Department discourages a visa consultant, agent or facilitator from aiding migrants when entering their information.
Entrants are selected randomly based on the number of available visas in each region and country. The law allows only one entry per person during each registration period. Those who attempt to submit two or more entries are disqualified.
All 2024 visa applicants must be found eligible for, and obtain, their visa or adjust their status by the end of the current fiscal year, on September 30. The registration period ran from October 5, 2022, until November 8, 2022.
The entry period for the 2025 DV program occurred between October 4, 2023, and November 7, 2023. That year's entrants could begin entering their confirmation information online on May 4, with entrants told to keep their numbers until at least September 30, 2025.
Update 5/6/24, 10:37 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from USCIS and additional information.
Correction 5/16/24, 10:30 a.m. ET: This headline and article was updated with numbers from USCIS.
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Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
