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Office of Immigration Statistics

POLICY DIRECTORATE

Fact Sheet

MAY 2007

Trends in Naturalization by Provision 

of Law: 1975 to 2005 

JOHN SIMANSKI

Naturalization is the process through which foreign 

nationals become U.S. citizens. Naturalized citizens are 

granted the same rights and privileges as all citizens of 

the United States. To become a naturalized citizen, foreign 

nationals must fulfill certain requirements established by 

Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act. There 

are primarily three legal provisions in which a person can 

become naturalized. The majority of applicants apply under the general naturalization provisions, which require 

that they be: at least 18 years of age; have been granted 

lawful permanent residence in the United States (i.e., be 

a legal permanent resident, LPR); and have resided in the 

country continuously for at least 5 years. However, there 

are special provisions that exempt applicants from one 

or more of the general requirements. Of those applicants 

naturalizing under a special provision, the majority are 

either spouses of U.S. citizens or members of the U.S. 

Armed Forces .

 For more information on the naturalization process and special provisions see J. 

Simanski and N. Rytina (2005) Naturalizations in the United States: 2005. This 

report is available on the OIS website at http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/2005NatzFlowRpt.pdf

 This Office of Immigration Statistics Fact 

Sheet examines trends in the number and proportion of 

persons ages 18 years and over naturalizing under various provisions between 1975 to 2005 .

 In this fact sheet, years refer to fiscal year (October 1 to September 30).

DATA

Every applicant for naturalization who is 18 years of 

age or older must file an N-400 Application for Naturalization. 

The data presented in this Fact Sheet were obtained 

from information taken from N-400 applications, 

maintained in administrative record keeping systems of 

the Department of Homeland Security.

KEY FINDINGS

 D uring the three decades between 1975 and 2005, the 

vast majority of naturalizations (83 percent to 93 percent) were under the general provisions (see Figure 1).

The spouses of U.S. citizens provision accounted 

for a declining share of naturalizations from 1975 

(11 percent) through 1996 (3 percent) and a rising 

share through 2005 (13 percent). This trend partly 

reflects changes in the number of persons obtaining LPR status as U.S. citizen spouses. The majority 

of naturalizations under the spouses provision were 

female; this percentage ranged from 80 percent 

in 1975 to 56 percent in 1992 and increased to 

70 percent in 2005 (see Figure 2). 

The proportion of naturalizations from members of 

the U.S. Armed Forces declined from nearly five percent of the total in 1975 to less than one percent in 

2005 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Naturalizations by Provisions of Law: 1975 to 2005

Percent of total

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, N-400 naturalization 

data, ages 18 years and older, fiscal years 1975 to 2005.

1975

2

4

6

8

10

12

85

90

95

100

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

General provisions

Spouses of U.S. citizens

Members of U.S. Armed Forces

Figure 2.

Females as a Proportion of Naturalizations 

Under the Spouses of U.S. Citizens Provision

Percent

1975

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, N-400 naturalization 

data, ages 18 years and older, fiscal years 1975 to 2005.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit the Office of Immigration Statistics web page at 

http://www.dhs.gov/immigrationstatistics.