Nigeria 4th among countries obtaining U.S citizenship through military service

Nigeria ranked fourth among countries whose citizens gained U.S. citizenship through military naturalisation between 2020 to 2024, data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has revealed.

A total of 3,270 Nigerian-born nationals were granted citizenship via this pathway out of the over 52,000 military service members from various countries.

Nationals from the Philippines were grants 5,630 citizenship, those from Jamaica were granted 5,420 citizenship, while nationals from Mexico were granted 3,670 citizenship in that time period.

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The data highlights the contribution of Nigerian-born individuals to the U.S. military and the strong ties between Nigeria and the United States.

“Service members born in the Philippines, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, and Ghana — the top five countries of birth among those naturalised — comprised over 38 percent of the naturalizations since FY 2020,” the report revealed.

The Army leads military naturalization, followed by the Navy and Air Force.

The Army accounted for 60 percent of all military naturalisations between FY 2020 and FY 2024, followed by the Navy at 20.4 percent the Air Force at 10.6 percent and the Marine Corps at 6.6 percent. Less than 1 percent of naturalised service members served in the Coast Guard.

The report from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services highlighted that, “Service members from the Army, including the National Guard and Reserves, comprised almost two-thirds (60 percent) of all military naturalisations from FY 2020 to FY 2024. Service members from the Coast Guard comprised less than 1 percent. The Navy accounted for 20.4 percent, the Air Force for 10.6 percent and the Marine Corps for 6.6 percent”.

The age distribution of naturalised service members shows that half were between 22 and 30 years old at the time of naturalisation.

“Half of all service members were between 22 and 30 years old when they naturalised. The median age of all service members who naturalised between FY 2020 and FY 2024 was 27. More than 17 percent were 21 and under, while almost 5 percent were older than 40,” the analysis revealed.

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In terms of gender distribution, 73 percent of the naturalised service members were men.

“Men comprised 73 percent of all service members naturalised between FY 2020 and FY 2024. The proportion of female service members slightly increased across the years,” the report said

These statistics provide a comprehensive overview of the demographics of service members who gained U.S. citizenship through military naturalisation over the four-year period.