3,270 Nigerians Enrolled Into Our Military And Gained Citizenship – U.S

Among nations whose citizens received U.S citizenship through military naturalization between 2020 and 2024, Nigeria came in at number four.
Over 52,000 military service members from various nations were naturalized by the US during the reviewed period.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data released Monday showed that 3,270 service members born in Nigeria were granted U.S. citizenship, second only to those born in the Philippines (5,630), Jamaica (5,420), and Mexico (3,670).
“Service members born in the Philippines, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, and Ghana — the top five countries of birth among those naturalised — comprised over 38% of the naturalizations since FY 2020.
“The next five countries of birth — Haiti, China, Cameroon, Vietnam, and South Korea — comprised an additional 16% of military naturalisations from FY 2020 to FY 2024,” the analysis of the data partly read.
According to the data, during the previous five years, there has been a steady increase in the number of Nigerian service members who have obtained U.S. citizenship.
340 in 2020, 630 the following year, 680 in 2022, 690 in 2023, and 930 in 2024 were the highest numbers.
Of all military naturalizations during this time, the Army made up 60%, followed by the Marine Corps (6.6%), Navy (20.4%), and Air Force (10.6%). The Coast Guard employed less than one percent of naturalized service members.
“Service members from the Army (including National Guard and Reserves) comprised almost two-thirds (60%) of all military naturalisations from FY 2020 to FY 2024. Service members from the Coast Guard comprised less than 1%. The Navy accounted for 20.4%, the Air Force for 10.6%, and the Marine Corps for 6.6%,” the report stated.
According to age, half of the service members were between 22 and 30 years old when they naturalised.
“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% were 21 and under, while almost 5% were older than 40,” the analysis revealed.
And by gender distribution, 73% of the naturalised service members were men.
“Men comprised 73% of all service members naturalized between FY 2020 and FY 2024. The proportion of female service members slightly increased across the years,” the report added.