It is estimated that there are 280,000 Korean permanent residents legally residing in the United States.
According to ‘Estimated Permanent Resident Statistics by Country of Origin’ released by the Federal Homeland Security Administration (DHS) on the 9th, the number of Korean immigrants holding permanent residence cards in the United States as of January 2021 was 280,000, maintaining the same level as the previous year.
This estimate of Korean permanent residents’ accounts for 2.1% of all 13.11 million permanent residents in the United States, the ninth largest by country of origin. The country with the largest number of permanent residents was Mexico with 3.01 million, followed by China with 820,000, the Dominican Republic with 560,000, India with 550,000, the Philippines with 540,000, and Cuba with 530,000.
According to the survey, 71.4% of the 280,000 Korean permanent residents, or 200,000, were found to be eligible for citizenship.
More than 2 out of 3 Korean permanent residents do not or delay acquiring citizenship even though they are eligible. For permanent residents to acquire citizenship, the status is granted after 5 years (3 years of spouse of a citizen) after receiving permanent residence.
Meanwhile, looking at the trend of Korean permanent residents, it recorded 301,000 in 2002, decreased to 270,000 in 2006, and slightly increased to 280,000 in 2007. However, it remained at the level of 270,000 for three consecutive years from 2008 to 2010, and recovered to the level of 290,000 in 2012, and then decreased to 280,000 again from 2020.