Nigeria has been ranked number four among countries with citizens granted U.S. green cards through military naturalization between 2020 and 2024.
The United States naturalised over 52,000 military service members across different countries, during the period under review.
Data obtained from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services explained that 3,270 Nigerian-born service members were granted U.S. citizenship, trailing only the Philippines (5,630), Jamaica (5,420), and Mexico with 3,670.
It noted that service members born in the Philippines, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, and Ghana are the top five countries of birth among those naturalised and comprised over 38% of the naturalizations since 2020.
The analysis of the data said, “The next five countries of birth — Haiti, China, Cameroon, Vietnam, and South Korea — comprised an additional 16% of military naturalisations from FY 2020 to FY 2024.”
The data revealed that the number of Nigerian service members gaining U.S. citizenship has steadily increased over the past five years, saying that from 340 in 2020, the figure rose to 630 the following year, 680 in 2022, 690 in 2023 and 930 in 2024.
It said that the Army accounted for 60% of all military naturalisations during the period, followed by the Navy (20.4%), Air Force (10.6%), and Marine Corps (6.6%), stressing that less than 1% of naturalised service members served in the Coast Guard.
It added that service members from the Army (including National Guard and Reserves) comprised almost two-thirds (60%) of all military naturalisations from FY 2020 to FY 2024, pointing out that service members from the Coast Guard comprised less than 1%, while the Navy accounted for 20.4%, the Air Force for 10.6%, and the Marine Corps for 6.6%.
Age-wise, it explained that half of the service members were between 22 and 30 years old when they naturalised, while half of all service members were between 22 and 30, adding that the median age of all service members who naturalised between FY 2020 and FY 2024 was 27. More than 17% were 21 and under, while almost 5% were older than 40.
Regarding gender distribution, it said that 73% of the naturalised service members were men and between FY 2020 and FY 2024, the proportion of female service members slightly increased across the years.
