Lawful Permanent Residents Annual Flow Reports

Historical Trends and Characteristics

Historically, the annual LPR flow had a general upward trend since 1944. It increased from an average of 250,000 new LPRs per year during the 1950s to averaging over 1 million per year since 1989.

These increases are partly explained by changes in immigration law, including:

• The 1965 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which eliminated the National Origins system^[2]
• The legalization of 2.7 million illegal aliens under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 (resulting in a spike from 1989 to 1991)
• The Immigration Act of 1990, which resulted in an increase in the annual immigration ceiling from 290,000 worldwide to 700,000 for the first 3 years, and 675,000 thereafter

Figure 1.
New Lawful Permanent Residents: Fiscal Years 1920 to 2024

Source: March 2025 Office of Homeland Security Statistics system of record data based on data provided by USCIS.

The Lawful Immigration Process

The INA and other statutes provide various bases for obtaining LPR status.

These bases include (but are not limited to):

• Sponsorship by a close family member who is a U.S. citizen or LPR
• Sponsorship by an employer
• Making investments that create a certain number of U.S. jobs
• Being from countries with relatively low levels of immigration to the United States (through the diversity visa program)
• Being present in the United States in refugee or asylee status for at least 1 year

Each person who seeks LPR status is subject to a background check as part of the adjudication of their application.

New Arrivals versus Adjustments of Status

There are 2 paths to LPR status, depending on whether the alien is inside or outside the United States. The alien either applies for an immigrant visa abroad or seeks LPR status from within the United States.

Generally, to be eligible for LPR status from outside the United States, the alien must be sponsored by a U.S. citizen or LPR relative or prospective employer, or in certain cases aliens may self-sponsor. The sponsor starts the immigration process and must petition on the alien’s behalf with United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). If USCIS approves the petition, the case is then forwarded to the National Visa Center at the U.S. Department of State (DOS). The DOS will inform the alien of the next steps, including visa availability and when to submit their immigrant visa application and other requirements.

When more people want to immigrate than the number of available visas permits, a queue or line develops, so there can be lengthy wait times before a visa becomes available, especially in oversubscribed countries. Once a visa is available and if the alien successfully completes the visa application with all required evidence including the medical exam, the alien will be interviewed by DOS abroad. DOS will determine whether to issue the immigrant visa. Once issued an immigrant visa by DOS, the alien may seek admission^[3] to the United States and become an LPR when admitted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at a port of entry (POE). These reports refer to these LPRs as new arrivals.

For aliens who are already present in the United States and seek LPR status, they too first determine the basis on which they may be eligible for LPR status. This may require the filing of a petition on their behalf by a family member or an employer. Aliens also may be eligible for adjustment of status through another basis, and each category has its own eligibility requirements and process. If the alien believes they are eligible, they may file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status according to the Form I-485 Instructions and relevant regulations at the time they file the application with USCIS. If USCIS approves their Form I-485, the alien generally becomes an LPR at the time of approval.^[4] This report refers to these LPRs as adjustments of status.

Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens

The largest category of new LPRs consists of U.S. citizens’ immediate relatives.

Immediate relatives include:

• Spouses
• Unmarried children under age 21
• Parents (U.S. citizen must be age 21 and over)
• Certain widows or widowers of U.S. citizens^[5]

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are not subject to numerical limits. They typically account for over 40% of new LPRs annually.

Preference Immigration

The term preference is used in immigration law to designate the numerically limited family and employment priority categories for LPR status. The INA specifies the worldwide level of preference immigration in family-sponsored and employment-based groupings.

Family-sponsored Preferences

Family-sponsored preferences consist of four categories of relatives:

1. First preference (F-1), a U.S. citizen’s unmarried sons and daughters (age 21 years or older) and their children
2. Second preference, an LPR’s spouse and childrenF-2A), or an LPR’s unmarried sons and daughters (age 21 years or older) and their children (F-2B)
3. Third preference (F-3), a U.S. citizen’s married sons and daughters and their spouses and children
4. Fourth preference (F-4), siblings of an adult U.S. citizen (age 21 years or older) and their spouses and children

Immediate relatives and family-preference LPRs are collectively referred to as family-based or family-sponsored immigrants. They must be petitioned for by a U.S. citizen or LPR relative.^[6] Generally, that relative must financially sponsor the immigrant.^[7]

Employment-based Preferences

Employment-based preferences consist of 5 categories of workers or investors, along with their spouse and children:

1. First preference, EB-1 priority workers (e.g., aliens with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, certain multinational executives and managers)
2. Second preference, EB-2 professionals with advanced degrees (or a foreign equivalent degree) or exceptional ability
3. Third preference, EB-3 skilled workers (e.g., those with at least 2 years of training or experience), professionals (those who hold baccalaureate degrees or a foreign equivalent degree), and other workers (e.g., those with less than 2 years of training or experience)
4. Fourth preference, EB-4 “special” immigrants (e.g., special immigrant juveniles, religious ministers and workers, employees of the U.S. Government abroad)
5. Fifth preference, EB-5 immigrant investors

Petition Requirements

Many EB-1 and EB-2, and all EB-3 immigrants must be sponsored by a U.S. employer. Some EB-1 and EB-2 employment-based immigrants may self-petition. Most EB-4 special immigrants self-petition, although some are the beneficiaries of petitions filed by employers.

EB-5 immigrants all self-petition. They also must invest a certain level of lawful funds into a new commercial enterprise to create at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying employees. In certain rural areas or areas with high unemployment, this required minimum investment amount is reduced.

Labor Certification

Most EB-2 and all EB-3 petitions require certification from the Secretary of the Department of Labor. This certification:

• indicates sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available could not be found in the area of intended employment
• shows that the employment will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers

Some EB-2 and EB-3 employment-based immigrants fall within occupations the Department of Labor has “pre-certified.”

All EB-1 and some EB-2 employment-based immigrants are exempted from labor certification and job offer requirements.

Special Immigrants

Several categories of “special immigrants” are eligible for EB-4 visas. Some of the largest categories are:

• special immigrant juveniles
• certain religious ministers and workers
• certain current and former employees of the U.S. Government abroad, including certain Afghans admitted to the United States in 2021 and 2022 during Afghan relocation efforts

Preference-Based Numerical Limits

LPR admissions for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens is not subject to numerical limits, but family- and employment-sponsored preference-based immigration are subject to numerical limits described in the INA.

Family-sponsored Preference Limit

The annual limit for family-sponsored preference immigration is calculated as 480,000 people minus those issued visas or who adjusted to the LPR status in the previous year as:

1. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens
2. Children born after a parent receives a visa
3. Children born abroad to LPRs on temporary trips abroad
4. Certain categories of aliens paroled into the United States
5. Plus, unused visas in the employment-preference classes in the preceding fiscal year

The family-sponsored preference limit may not fall below 226,000 in any year. If the calculation above results in a limit lower than 226,000, then the limit is 226,000.

Employment-based Preference Limit

The annual limit for employment-based preference immigration is equal to 140,000 plus unused numbers in the family-sponsored preference classes in the previous year.

Typically, most family-preference visas have been used, so employment limits have remained close to 140,000. However, due to COVID-19 challenges, over half of the available family-sponsored preference visas were unused in 2020 and 2021. This resulted in the highest numbers of employment-based preference visas available since the implementation of the current preference system in 1992.

Per Country and Dependent Area Limits

In addition to the preference category limits, there are also per-country limits. Generally, no more than 7% of the combined total number of visas made available in the preference visa categories (family-sponsored and employment-based) can be allotted to a single country. There is a 2% limit for dependent areas.^[8] The country or dependent area to which a visa is charged is typically the alien’s country of birth.

Diversity Visas

DOS administers the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. It allows immigration from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. These are countries with fewer than 50,000 aliens granted LPR status within family- and employment-based categories during the last 5 years.

Diversity visas are generally limited to 55,000 per year and also limited across 6 broad world regions based on regional immigration levels during the last 5 years. High admission regions are eligible for fewer diversity visas.

Natives of eligible countries must, among other eligibility requirements, have either a high school degree (or equivalent) or qualifying work experience to apply to the diversity visa program.

Eligible applicants are randomly selected based on the allocations described above.

Those selected may then apply for a diversity visa, during which process they are subject to background checks and security screening.

Refugees and Asylees

The United States provides humanitarian protections to aliens who have experienced past persecution or have a well-founded fear of future persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

Aliens who have experienced or may experience this type of harm may apply for protection:

• From outside the United States as a refugee, along with their spouse and/or children
• Physically present in the United States or arriving at a POE, as an asylum applicant, along with their spouse and/or children

Yearly Refugee Limits

As prescribed in the Refugee Act of 1980, the President, after consultation with Congress, establishes the number of foreign nationals who may be admitted to the United States as refugees each year. There is no numerical limit on the number of people who may be granted asylum each year.

Since the passage of this act, the United States has accepted more than 3.7 million refugees and asylees.

From 2003 to 2016, the ceiling on refugee admissions was set between 70,000 and 85,000 each year.

• In 2017, the ceiling was initially set at 110,000 but was later reduced to 50,000 through a pair of Executive Orders^[9]
• In 2018, the ceiling set at 45,000.
• In 2019, the ceiling was set at 30,000.
• In 2020, the ceiling was set at 18,000.
• The 2021 ceiling was originally set at 15,000. In May 2021, the ceiling was raised to 62,500.
• In each year from 2022 through 2024, the ceiling was 125,000.

More detailed information about refugee and asylees can be found in our Refugee and Asylee Annual Flow Reports.

Adjustments of Status

Refugees must apply for adjustment to LPR status 1 year after admission into the United States. Asylees are eligible to have their green card applications adjudicated 1 year after they are granted asylum but are not required to apply for adjustment of status. Refugee and asylee adjustments of status are not subject to numerical limits.

Other Admission Categories

Remaining admission categories are generally limited to those admitted under special legislation. Admission or adjustment under some of these categories may be subject to numerical limits.

• In 2000, the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (including the Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act) created the T and U nonimmigrant statuses. These statuses permit qualifying victims of trafficking and certain other crimes to be admitted as nonimmigrants for specified periods of time and then to apply for adjustment to LPR status.
• Certain aliens admitted as parolees may adjust status from within the United States
• Children born abroad to LPRs may enter the United States as new arrival LPRs

Eligibility for Naturalization

Most LPRs who are at least 18 are eligible to apply for naturalization to U.S. citizenship after meeting certain requirements.

These requirements generally include:

• Holding LPR status and residing in the United States for 5 years (3 years for those married to a U.S. citizen)
• Passing tests in English language and civics (unless an exemption or waiver may apply for 1 or both tests)

Typically, children in LPR status and under the age of 18 may automatically gain citizenship through a U.S. citizen-parent.

Limitations

Many factors affect the size and characteristics of new LPR cohorts, including:

• Changes to immigration law and procedure
• Variation in application volume
• Other factors related to application processing

For these reasons, exercise caution in drawing conclusions about the propensity to immigrate from the data in these reports.

Data Source

This report uses data from two USCIS systems:

• Computer Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS)
• Electronic Immigration System (ELIS)

CLAIMS

CLAIMS maintains information for applicants present in the United States from USCIS’s Form I-485.

ELIS

ELIS uses a combination of data sources for information on applicants abroad:

• Biographical and demographic information from Department of State forms. These include Form DS-230, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, or Form DS-260, Electronic Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration
• Data collected by CBP at a POE. This includes the date of entry, POE name, and updated class of admission (if there is any change)

ELIS also includes information on family-sponsored and certain special immigrant applicants present in the United States from USCIS Form I-485 (since 2019).

Footnotes

1. 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20). ↩ Back
2. The National Origins system included in the original version of the INA passed in 1952 established immigration limits on a per-country basis. Each country’s quota was set by a formula based on the national origins of the U.S. population in the 1920 census. ↩ Back
3. INA § 101(a)(13)(A) defines the terms “admission” and “admitted” to mean “with respect to an alien, the lawful entry of the alien into the United States after inspection and authorization by an immigration officer.” ↩ Back
4. Certain classes of immigrants, such as refugees and asylees, receive credit for additional time in LPR status prior to approval of their I-485s. This allows them to naturalize more quickly. ↩ Back
5. The term children includes orphans adopted abroad or coming to the United States to be adopted. ↩ Back
6. In certain circumstances, the widow or widower of a U.S. citizen may file a self-petition; see 8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i) and 8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(A)(ii). ↩ Back
7. Financial sponsorship includes signing an affidavit of support. The sponsor agrees to make reimbursement should the sponsored relative receive any means-tested public benefits while in LPR status and before they are credited with 40 quarters (approximately ten years) of work. ↩ Back
8. For more information regarding independent states, dependent areas, and visa allocations, see 9 Foreign Affairs Manual 503.2. ↩ Back
9. Executive Orders 13769 and 13780, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” ↩ Back