Legal Immigration and Adjustment of Status Report Fiscal Year 2017, Quarter 2
On March 6, 2017, the President issued a Memorandum for the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security on Implementing Immediate Heightened Screening and Vetting of Applications for Visas and Other Immigration Benefits, Ensuring Enforcement of All Laws for Entry into the United States, and Increasing Transparency among Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government and for the American People.
The Memorandum directs the Department of Homeland Security to issue quarterly reports detailing the number of adjustments of immigration status that occurred during the reporting period, disaggregated by type of adjustment, type and detailed class of admission, and country of nationality. This report has been prepared by the Department’s Office of Immigration Statistics to comply with the President’s directive.
The report describes legal immigration and adjustments of status and provides links to data tables within four categories:
OIS has historically reported on immigration benefits annually, with data collection beginning three months after the end of the fiscal year. This quarterly report provides information about legal migration and adjustments of status based on data available one month after the end of the reporting period. OIS will provide revised figures for previous quarters in future reports as additional data become available.
Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR)
Recent Trends
289,000 aliens obtained lawful permanent resident (LPR) status in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2017 and 270,000 aliens obtained LPR status in the second quarter (see Table 1A). First quarter admissions represent a one percent increase from the same quarter in Fiscal Year 2016, while second-quarter admissions were four percent lower than the same period in Fiscal Year 2016.
Countries of Origin
More than 40 percent of new LPRs in the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2017 were from the top six countries of nationality: Mexico, the People’s Republic of China, India, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the Philippines (see Table 1A). These were also the top six countries for the first and second quarters of Fiscal Year 2016.
Classes and Modes of Admission
Nearly half of all LPRs in Fiscal Year 2017 obtained status as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and approximately two-thirds obtained status either as immediate relatives or under a family preference category. Approximately 13 percent of LPRs obtained status under an employment-based preference category (see Table 1B). LPR admissions in the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2017 were roughly evenly divided between those who adjusted status from within the United States and those who entered as new arrivals.
Data Sources
LPR data were obtained from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Computer Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS) and Electronic Immigration System (ELIS). CLAIMS and ELIS maintain information from applications for LPR status: Department of State’s Form DS-230 Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration or Form DS-260 Electronic Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration (used by applicants living abroad), and the DHS Form I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (used by applicants living in the United States).[1]
Refugee Arrivals
Recent Trends
Over 25,000 refugees were admitted in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2017, and over 13,000 refugees were admitted in the second quarter (see Table 2). Compared to the same quarters in Fiscal Year 2016, first-quarter arrivals reflected an 86 percent year-over-year increase, while second-quarter arrivals were 12 percent lower than the same period in Fiscal Year 2016.
Countries of Origin
In both quarters, approximately two-thirds of refugees were from five leading countries of nationality: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, and Burma (see Table 2). Except for Syria, these were also the leading countries of nationality in the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2016.
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.
Naturalizations
Recent Trends
A total of 106,000 aliens were naturalized in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2017, and 159,000 aliens were naturalized in the second quarter (see Table 3). These numbers were lower by 32 percent and 11 percent, respectively, when compared to the first and second quarters of Fiscal Year 2016.
Countries of Origin
Approximately 40 percent of aliens naturalized in each of the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2017 were from Mexico, India, the Philippines, the People’s Republic of China, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba (see Table 3). These same countries were the leading countries of nationality during the first and second quarters of Fiscal Year 2016.
Data Sources
Naturalization data presented in Table 3 come from administrative records of DHS Form N-400 applications recorded in USCIS’ CLAIMS and ELIS data systems.
Nonimmigrant (I-94) Admissions
At the time of this report, data on Fiscal Year 2017 nonimmigrant admissions were only available for October 2016; future reports will provide more complete quarterly data. In addition, detailed data on nonimmigrants in this report are limited to visitors who are required to fill out Form I-94 or Form I-94W (collectively referred to as I-94 admissions); most nonimmigrants from Canada and Mexico are excluded from the I-94 admissions data.[2]
Recent Trends
During October 2016, DHS recorded a total of more than 15 million admissions to the United States, including 6.4 million I-94 admissions (see Table 4A). Total and I-94 nonimmigrant admissions numbers in October 2016 were comparable to those observed in October of the previous year.
Countries of Origin
The leading countries of citizenship for I-94 admissions in October 2016 were Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, and the People’s Republic of China (55 percent of all I-94 admissions; see Table 4A).
Classes of Admission
Visitors entering for business or pleasure comprised ninety-two percent of all I-94 admissions in October 2016, followed by temporary workers and families (4.5 percent) and students and dependents (1.2 percent; see Table 4B).
Data Sources
Data on total nonimmigrant admissions come from DHS workload estimates. Detailed data on I-94 admissions are based on DHS Form I-94/I-94W arrival records recorded in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s TECS database.
[1] USCIS has built the ELIS case management system as a part of its Transformation effort. While USCIS is currently addressing ongoing issues with ELIS (see Office of Inspector General report OIG-16-48), the system contains incomplete data from a subset of immigration benefit applications, including payments for immigrant visa fees and immigration visa packets.
[2] CBP collects information from most classes of nonimmigrants arriving in the United States on paper and electronic Forms I-94/I-94W. Information collected from these I-94 records includes arrival and departure dates, port of entry, class of admission, country of citizenship, state of destination, age, and gender. The I-94 data do not describe all nonimmigrant admissions because certain visitors are not required to fill out I-94 forms. For example, in general, Canadians traveling to the United States on B-1 visitor for business or B-2 visitor for pleasure visas and Mexicans entering with Border Crossing Cards who plan to remain in the border region are not required to complete the Form I-94. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials (seeking N1-N5 nonimmigrant classification) also are not required to submit an I-94 but may do so to document their admissions. Foreign military members generally are not issued a Form I-94 when entering the United States under military orders.
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