Among the countries whose citizens were granted U.S. citizenship through military naturalization between 2020 and 2024, Nigeria has ranked fourth.
During the period under review, the United States naturalised over 52,000 military service members across different countries.
According to data obtained from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday, 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.
“Service members born in the Philippines, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, and Ghana — the top five countries of birth among those naturalised — comprised over 38% of the naturalizations since FY 2020.
“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 analysis of the data partly read.
The data revealed that the number of Nigerian service members gaining U.S. citizenship has steadily increased over the past five years.
From 340 in 2020, the figure rose to 630 the following year, 680 in 2022, 690 in 2023 and 930 in 2024.
