Legal Immigration and Adjustment of Status Report Fiscal Year 2022, Quarter 4

Recent Trends

Approximately² 286,000 noncitizens obtained lawful permanent resident (LPR) status in the fourth quarter (Q4) of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 (see Table 1A). Nearly 136,000 noncitizens issued immigrant visas by Department of State entered the United States as new arrivals, a 29 percent increase from FY 2021 Q4. Over 150,000 noncitizens adjusted status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from within the United States, a 15 percent decrease from FY 2021 Q4. The increase in new arrivals demonstrates a continued return to more typical levels after COVID-19-related public health challenges in 2021 resulted in travel restrictions and closures in the United States and worldwide.

Countries of Nationality

In FY 2022 Q4, 42 percent of new LPRs were from the top five countries of nationality: India, Mexico, the People’s Republic of China (China), Cuba, and the Dominican Republic (see Table 1A). In FY 2021 Q4, the top five countries of nationality (India, Mexico, China, the Dominican Republic, and the Philippines) represented 49 percent of new LPRs.

Classes and Modes of Admission

The largest LPR class of admission (36 percent) in FY 2022 Q4 was comprised of LPRs who obtained status as employment-based preferences, followed by 28 percent of LPRs who obtained status as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, and 16 percent who obtained status as family-sponsored preferences. Diversity admissions, the next largest class of admission, accounted for seven percent of LPRs (see Table 1B). In FY 2021 Q4, the majority of new LPRs were immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (42 percent), followed by employment-based preferences (36 percent), family-sponsored preferences (12 percent), and refugees (3 percent).

Data Sources

USCIS provided LPR data from its Computer Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS) and its Electronic Immigration System (ELIS).³ CLAIMS includes information from DHS Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, which is used by applicants living in the United States. ELIS includes information from certain Form I-485 records, as well as applications for LPR status submitted by applicants living abroad. ELIS automatically confirms the applicant’s status based on one of two Department of State forms:  either Form DS-230, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, or Form DS-260, Electronic Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration.

Recent Trends

About 10,400 refugees were admitted to the United States in FY 2022 Q4 (see Table 2), a 56 percent increase from FY 2021 Q4, when only about 6,600 refugees were admitted. These significant increases show a recovery from COVID-19-related public health challenges, though admissions numbers have not yet resumed pre-COVID-19 levels in proportion to the refugee ceiling.

Countries of Nationality

In FY 2022 Q4, 72 percent of refugees arrived from the top five countries of nationality: Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Burma, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, (see Table 2). In FY 2021 Q4, the top five countries of nationality (the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Afghanistan, Burma, and Sudan) accounted for 80 percent of refugee arrivals.

Data Sources

Refugee data presented in Table 2 are from the Worldwide Refugee Admissions Processing System (WRAPS) of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the U.S. Department of State.

Recent Trends

Nearly 296,000 persons naturalized in FY 2022 Q4 (see Table 3), a 21 percent increase from FY 2021 Q4, when approximately 244,000 persons naturalized. These FY 2022 data for Q4 represent a return to pre-COVID levels.

Countries of Nationality

Thirty-four percent of naturalizations in FY 2022 Q4 consisted of persons from the top five countries of nationality:  Mexico, India, the Philippines, Cuba, and Vietnam (see Table 3). In FY 2021 Q4, the top five countries of nationality (Mexico, India, the Philippines, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic) accounted for 35 percent of naturalizations.

Data Sources

Naturalization data presented in Table 3 come from administrative records of DHS Form N-400 applications recorded in the USCIS ELIS data system.

Detailed data on nonimmigrants in this report are based on I-94/I-94W information, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) uses to record certain nonimmigrant admissions (collectively referred to as I-94 nonimmigrant admissions).⁴ Prior to FY 2022 Q2, data on nonimmigrant admissions were lagged a quarter due to CBP’s data reporting closeout process. Nonimmigrant admissions data are now on the same schedule as other data sources in this report.

Recent Trends

In FY 2022 Q4, DHS recorded a total (i.e., including both I-94 and estimated non-I-94 admissions) of 30.6 million nonimmigrant admissions to the United States. Specifically, this included approximately 13.5 million I-94 nonimmigrant admissions (see Table 4B), a 162 percent increase from FY 2021 Q4. These significant increases coincided with ongoing immigration system recovery from COVID-19-related public health challenges.

Countries of Nationality

Five countries of nationality – Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, India, and Germany – accounted for 58 percent of I-94 nonimmigrant admissions in FY 2022 Q4 (see Table 4A). In FY 2021 Q4, the top five countries of nationality (Mexico, Canada, Colombia, India, and China) accounted for 54 percent of I-94 nonimmigrant admissions.

Classes of Admission

Eighty percent of I-94 nonimmigrants admitted in FY 2022 Q4 were temporary visitors entering for pleasure, followed by temporary visitors for business (9 percent), and temporary workers and families (6 percent; see Table 4B). In FY 2021 Q4, these classes of admissions represented 66 percent, 9 percent, and 11 percent of I-94 nonimmigrant admissions, respectively.

Data Sources

Data on total nonimmigrant admissions come from DHS workload estimates. Detailed data on I-94 nonimmigrant admissions are based on DHS Form I-94/I-94W arrival records in the CBP TECS database.

1. This report does not reflect how many visas were used in FY 2022 because it counts admissions at a POE instead of DOS visa issuance.
2. Numbers in this report are rounded.  For precise numbers, please refer to the data tables.
3. USCIS built the ELIS case management system as a part of its Transformation Program–an agency-wide modernization initiative to enable end-to-end electronic benefit case processing.  Currently, ELIS receives and processes a variety of USCIS form types; the data for this report are obtained from USCIS records and associated data for the immigrant visa packets (upon arrival in the United States), Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, and certain records from Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
4. Information collected from these I-94 records includes arrival dates, port of entry, class of admission, country of nationality, state of destination, age, gender, and, in some instances, departure dates. I-94 data do not describe all nonimmigrant admissions because certain visitors (e.g., most short-term visitors from Mexico and Canada) are not required to fill out the I-94 form. Admissions represent counts of events, i.e., arrivals, not unique individuals; an individual can have multiple entries during a given period of time. Previous quarterly data for this report are available in the OIS Reading Room under Legal Immigration and Status Report Quarterly Data.