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Green Card
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A Green Card is the documentation given to lawful permanent residents in the U.S. as proof of their status. A permanent resident must carry his or her Green Card at all times, and the card must be renewed every 10 years, although permanent residents retain their lawful status indefinitely.[1][2]
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, about 1.05 million individuals received Green Cards in 2015. Most of these individuals were from Asia.[3]
State-level data
The table below provides data on the number of individuals obtaining lawful permanent resident status in each state for each year between 2010 and 2015. More immigrants established permanent residency in California than in any other state during 2015.[3]
Individuals obtaining lawful permanent resident status by state | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
State | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Alabama | 3,740 | 4,063 | 3,873 | 3,848 | 3,685 | 3,928 |
Alaska | 1,703 | 1,799 | 1,612 | 1,460 | 1,505 | 1,572 |
Arizona | 18,243 | 20,333 | 18,434 | 16,097 | 16,908 | 17,997 |
Arkansas | 2,684 | 2,874 | 2,795 | 2,900 | 2,793 | 2,814 |
California | 208,446 | 210,591 | 196,622 | 191,806 | 198,379 | 209,568 |
Colorado | 12,489 | 13,547 | 13,327 | 11,108 | 10,872 | 12,661 |
Connecticut | 12,222 | 12,577 | 12,237 | 10,985 | 11,252 | 11,102 |
Delaware | 2,198 | 2,355 | 2,208 | 2,325 | 2,085 | 2,168 |
District of Columbia | 2,897 | 2,724 | 2,811 | 2,981 | 3,169 | 2,976 |
Florida | 107,276 | 109,229 | 103,047 | 102,939 | 109,310 | 118,873 |
Georgia | 24,833 | 27,015 | 26,134 | 24,387 | 23,792 | 25,919 |
Guam | 1,383 | 1,313 | 1,430 | 1,210 | 1,089 | 1,249 |
Hawaii | 7,037 | 7,296 | 6,764 | 6,226 | 5,741 | 6,513 |
Idaho | 2,556 | 2,602 | 2,428 | 2,120 | 2,202 | 2,531 |
Illinois | 37,909 | 38,325 | 38,373 | 35,988 | 36,535 | 40,482 |
Indiana | 8,539 | 8,262 | 8,359 | 7,668 | 8,008 | 8,554 |
Iowa | 4,245 | 4,624 | 4,679 | 4,105 | 4,225 | 5,047 |
Kansas | 5,501 | 5,086 | 4,980 | 5,000 | 4,861 | 5,419 |
Kentucky | 4,930 | 5,403 | 5,243 | 5,159 | 5,634 | 5,647 |
Louisiana | 4,397 | 4,226 | 4,454 | 4,355 | 4,382 | 4,696 |
Maine | 1,349 | 1,467 | 1,497 | 1,208 | 1,382 | 1,464 |
Maryland | 26,450 | 25,778 | 24,971 | 25,361 | 24,787 | 22,627 |
Massachusetts | 31,069 | 32,236 | 31,392 | 29,482 | 29,776 | 28,535 |
Michigan | 18,579 | 18,347 | 17,494 | 16,952 | 18,185 | 18,049 |
Minnesota | 12,408 | 12,389 | 12,999 | 12,781 | 13,764 | 14,737 |
Mississippi | 1,709 | 1,666 | 1,583 | 1,716 | 1,587 | 1,587 |
Missouri | 7,151 | 7,048 | 6,635 | 6,345 | 6,419 | 6,731 |
Montana | 457 | 511 | 503 | 445 | 451 | 519 |
Nebraska | 4,400 | 4,535 | 4,384 | 4,141 | 4,442 | 5,234 |
Nevada | 10,803 | 10,449 | 10,343 | 9,886 | 10,089 | 11,053 |
New Hampshire | 2,556 | 2,478 | 2,466 | 2,227 | 2,103 | 2,159 |
New Jersey | 56,920 | 55,547 | 50,790 | 53,082 | 51,609 | 49,801 |
New Mexico | 3,528 | 3,767 | 3,714 | 3,664 | 3,359 | 3,626 |
New York | 147,999 | 148,426 | 149,505 | 133,601 | 141,406 | 130,010 |
North Carolina | 16,112 | 17,571 | 17,487 | 16,798 | 17,152 | 18,495 |
North Dakota | 1,058 | 948 | 1,144 | 1,234 | 1,351 | 1,600 |
Ohio | 13,585 | 13,857 | 13,948 | 13,819 | 14,641 | 16,050 |
Oklahoma | 4,627 | 4,503 | 4,646 | 4,648 | 4,441 | 4,880 |
Oregon | 7,997 | 7,694 | 7,791 | 7,171 | 7,379 | 8,655 |
Pennsylvania | 24,130 | 25,397 | 25,032 | 24,720 | 23,944 | 24,969 |
Puerto Rico | 4,283 | 3,288 | 3,106 | 2,942 | 2,709 | 3,322 |
Rhode Island | 4,027 | 3,681 | 3,798 | 3,337 | 3,297 | 3,610 |
South Carolina | 4,401 | 4,216 | 3,924 | 4,266 | 4,233 | 4,417 |
South Dakota | 987 | 1,337 | 1,521 | 1,231 | 1,108 | 1,265 |
Tennessee | 8,156 | 8,279 | 8,573 | 8,380 | 8,507 | 8,833 |
Texas | 87,750 | 94,481 | 95,557 | 92,674 | 95,295 | 99,727 |
Utah | 6,085 | 6,426 | 5,932 | 5,503 | 6,166 | 6,883 |
Vermont | 867 | 943 | 877 | 838 | 791 | 792 |
Virginia | 28,607 | 27,767 | 28,227 | 27,861 | 28,477 | 27,622 |
Washington | 22,283 | 23,789 | 23,060 | 22,994 | 22,710 | 24,765 |
West Virginia | 729 | 830 | 779 | 760 | 783 | 786 |
Wisconsin | 6,189 | 6,245 | 6,049 | 5,918 | 5,997 | 6,655 |
Wyoming | 452 | 420 | 427 | 522 | 414 | 539 |
Other territories | 1,694 | 1,480 | 1,667 | 1,379 | 1,336 | 1,116 |
Unknown | - | - | - | - | 1 | 202 |
Total | 1,042,625 | 1,062,040 | 1,031,631 | 990,553 | 1,016,518 | 1,051,031 |
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, "Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR)" (Click on "Lawful Permanent Residents 2015 Data Tables" to access the data.) |
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, "Green Card," accessed October 4, 2016
- ↑ U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, "After a Green Card is Granted," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 U.S. Department of Homeland Security, "Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR)," accessed December 20, 2016 (Click on "Lawful Permanent Residents 2015 Data Tables" to access the data.)