For
Immediate Release
February 26, 2008
Contact: Michelle Mittelstadt
202-266-1910
mmittelstadt@migrationpolicy.org
More than 460,000
applications were filed in July 2007 alone, ahead of a major
increase in filing fees
WASHINGTON – Updated government figures given to the Migration
Policy Institute by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
show far more immigrants filed naturalization applications in
the several months preceding a fee increase that took effect
on July 30, 2007 than initially announced.
More than 460,000 lawful permanent residents filed naturalization
applications in July 2007 alone – a nearly 650 percent
increase over the number filed during the same month in 2006,
according to the latest USCIS data. Overall, nearly 1.4 million
naturalization applications were filed in fiscal 2007, almost
twice as many as during the previous year.
The surge in applications has led to a sharp increase in processing
times, rising to an average of 18 months for petitions filed
after June 2007, up from last year’s average of just under
seven months.
Naturalization Applications Received by Month,
FY 2006 and FY 2007
| Month |
FY 2006 |
FY 2007 |
Percent Change |
| October |
52,056 |
61,539 |
18.22% |
| November |
46,104 |
64,642 |
40.21% |
| December |
42,760 |
65,781 |
53.84% |
| January |
53,390 |
95,620 |
79.10% |
| February |
57,056 |
80,105 |
40.40% |
| March |
74,943 |
120,802 |
61.19% |
| April |
66,039 |
113,399 |
71.72% |
| May |
74,583 |
124,689 |
67.18% |
| June |
71,288 |
152,240 |
113.56% |
| July |
61,665 |
460,294 |
646.44% |
| August |
70,889 |
19,223 |
-72.88% |
| September |
59,869 |
24,941 |
-58.34% |
| |
|
|
|
| Total |
730,642 |
1,383,275 |
89.32% |
Source: United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS).
By the end of December 2007, USCIS had nearly 1 million naturalization
cases that were pending.
A new MPI fact sheet examines the issues surrounding the backlog,
including the fact that the new waiting time will prevent most
naturalization applicants who filed after June 2007 from gaining
US citizenship in time to register and vote in November. The fact
sheet is available online at http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/FS21_NaturalizationBacklog_022608.pdf |
