How long does it take to become a citizen? It depends
Welcome back to Spotlight, the once-a-month email where we focus on some really cool data storytelling. In this edition, we dove deep into the complicated paths to becoming a citizen.
People who are American by birth might not know that naturalization is an endurance sport. There’s no one path to become a US citizen, and many variables affect the amount of time required for processing, including policies, paperwork, and chance. An individual’s application can take a few years or a few decades.
If you aren’t born into US citizenship, you first must become a lawful permanent resident, or a “green card holder.” Citizenship and Immigration Services only issues green cards to people who meet certain criteria, most often through sponsorship by a family member or employer.
The wait can be…long. And we’ve tracked it in a series of unique, colorful visualizations.
Click through to explore in greater detail!
- The spouse of a US citizen had an average processing time of five years and four months in fiscal year 2025.
- A US citizen’s immediate relatives, which includes parents and children younger than 21, had an average wait time of seven years and four months.
- Siblings of US citizens can wait from 24 to more than 30 years for their citizenship applications to be processed.
Did you know?
Green card holders aren’t automatically placed on a path to citizenship. Read more about the US citizenship process
