These spouses and children of legalized aliens, however, continue to be eligible to enter under the family second preference or as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens if their sponsor naturalizes. The number of spouses of U.S. citizens admitted decreased by 15 percent between FY 94 and FY 95 to 123,238, the lowest number admitted since 1984. After two-decades of increases, the number of parents of U.S. citizens declined for the third consecutive year. The number of parents admitted reached a high of 64,764 in FY 92, but has declined by 25 percent since then, totaling only 48,382 in FY 95. The number of refugees adjusting to immigrant status declined by 7.5 percent to 106,827 in FY 95, reflecting recent decreases in the number of refugees admitted into the United States.
Refugees are eligible to adjust to immigrant status one year after their arrival.
While immigration decreased for most categories and areas of the world, there were two exceptions. The increase in African immigration was primarily due to the new Diversity Program that began in FY 95. This Diversity program allows for the annual immigration of up to 55,000 persons from countries who have experienced relatively low levels of immigration in past years. As of January 1995, there were over 1.6 million persons waiting for family second preference visas.