How long can it take to become a US citizen?
For some immigrants, becoming a US citizen takes a few years. For others, limited visa availability and annual country caps mean waiting decades before even applying.
There’s no single timeline for becoming a US citizen. For some, the journey is a few years; for others, it spans decades. Processing times, federally mandated annual visa limits, and mandatory waiting periods mean that the same goal — citizenship — is obtained in very different ways depending on where a person is from and how they begin their journey.
For some applicants, becoming a US citizen can take decades
Time to citizenship by visa category and applicant’s country of citizenship, FY 2025
You are either born into US citizenship, or you follow the lengthy process to become one. That process first requires becoming a lawful permanent resident, better known as a “green card holder.”
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) only issues green cards to people who meet certain criteria, most often through sponsorship by a family member or employer. The timeline for getting a green card is anything but predictable.
Why is the wait for a green card so unpredictable?
To gain permanent residence, aka a green card, a person must first be approved for an immigrant visa. There are several types of these visas, and some, like those for the spouses, children, and parents of US citizens, are always available.
Others are limited, with only a certain number issued each year, and no more than 7% of those issued visas can go to applicants from any one country. When demand outpaces supply, applicants are placed in a queue to await an available visa.
Each new applicant joins the line behind others seeking the same type of visa and their families. Because spouses and children can also be included on a visa application, each family may receive more than one visa within the annual limit. For applicants from countries with especially high demand, like India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines, that can mean waiting decades to reach the front of the line.
The main paths to a green card
Each green card path follows the same basic steps, but the pace varies. Some of the wait comes from how long it takes officials to review and approve paperwork. The rest comes from waiting for a visa to become available, since only a set number are issued each year.
The family path to a green card
Family ties are the most common path to a green card. In FY 2023, nearly 65% of new green card holders qualified through a US citizen or lawful permanent resident relative. But how long the process takes depends entirely on who that relative is.
For immediate family of US citizens, such as spouses, parents, and unmarried children under 21, the process is relatively fast. These applicants are not subject to annual visa limits, so once their petition is approved, they can move straight into green card processing.
Other family members face a queue. The US uses a preference system for extended family, with caps that can stretch wait times into decades:
- First preference: Unmarried adult children of US citizens
- Second preference: Spouses and children of lawful permanent residents
- Third preference: Married children of US citizens
- Fourth preference: Siblings of US citizens
Those final categories can take the longest. Mexican siblings of US citizens who applied in 2001 – the year that George W. Bush entered the White House – started to become eligible for green cards in September 2025.
Spouses of US citizens can become citizens themselves decades before siblings receive green cards
Time to citizenship by applicant’s country of citizenship and relationship to a US citizen, FY 2025
The employment path to a green card
Employment is the second most common path to a green card. In FY 2023, 16.7% of new green cards were issued through jobs or job offers in the US, though roughly half of those went to the workers’ spouses and children rather than the employees themselves.
The employment route to a green card requires more steps than the family-sponsored route. Most applicants need a US employer to sponsor them. In many cases, the employer first completes a permanent labor certification, known as a PERM application, through the Labor Department to prove that hiring a foreign worker will not displace qualified US workers. That process includes confirming a government-set wage for the position, advertising the job to US candidates, and documenting the results. Once the Labor Department certifies the application, the employer can petition USCIS for the worker’s green card.
Employment-based visas are divided into three preference categories, each of which is subject to annual visa limits:
- First preference: Individuals with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors, or multinational executives. Applicants in this category do not need a PERM labor certification and may self-petition in some cases.
- Second preference: Professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability. Most require a PERM labor certification, though some may qualify for a national interest waiver (NIW) that allows them to self-petition without an employer.
- Third preference: Skilled workers, professionals, and certain other workers. These applicants typically require a PERM labor certification.
The wait time for any of these visas depends on demand and country of origin. Because of the high number of applicants and the annual and per-country limits, applicants from India and China often face waits of 10 years or more.
Some applicants can pay for premium processing to expedite review of initial paperwork, but that does not shorten the overall wait for a visa number. As of 2025, Indian professionals who applied for Second Preference employment visas in 2013 were only just becoming eligible for green cards because of the annual visa limits. For context, that means they applied when Barack Obama was beginning his second presidential term.
Many employment-based paths can lead to citizenship in less than 13 years, but for some Indian applicants, it can take over 20
Time to citizenship by visa category and applicant’s country of citizenship, FY 2025
The humanitarian aid path to a green card
Refugees and asylees make up a smaller share of new green card holders, and their path to citizenship is among the least predictable. In FY 2023, roughly 8.5% of new green cards were granted through humanitarian protections to people who first arrived as refugees or were granted asylum after reaching the US.
Both groups can apply for a green card one year after receiving refugee or asylum status, but the time it takes to reach that point may vary. The federal government does not publish comprehensive data on how long asylum or refugee cases take from application to approval, making this part of the citizenship journey difficult to measure.
Becoming a naturalized citizen
Green card holders aren’t automatically placed on a path to citizenship. Some choose not to apply even when eligible, but those who do pursue it follow a relatively consistent process:
- maintain permanent resident status for up to five years
- meet physical presence and other eligibility requirements
- pass the required civics and English language tests
- take the oath of allegiance
Based on FY 2025 processing times, the full journey from receiving a green card to becoming a US citizen can take three to six years.
One goal, many timelines
There’s no single clock for becoming a US citizen. Each path runs on its own timeline shaped by law, policy, paperwork, and chance. The data shown here reflects how long each step in the process took under FY 2025 conditions. But those figures only describe how the system operates now, not how long it will take for those beginning the process today.
Government processing capacity, policy changes, and individual circumstances all affect how long the process takes. For those subject to annual visa caps, the longest wait typically stems from the limits set by law.
There’s no limit on how many people can join the line awaiting a capped visa each year, so those applying now may be entering a much longer queue than those who applied years ago.
