The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Immigration Statistics has released a report entitled, “Estimates of the Legal Permanent Resident Population in 2012.” This report uses estimates of the legal permanent resident (LPR) population living in the United States as of January 1, 2012. An LPR is any person not a citizen of the United States, who is residing in the U.S. under legally recognized and lawfully recorded permanent residence as an immigrant, also known as a “Green Card Holder.” The estimates are shown for the total LPR population, and the LPR population eligible to apply to naturalize by country of birth, state of residence, and the year LPR status was obtained.
Data for the estimates was obtained primarily from administrative records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). An estimated 13.3 million LPRs lived in the United States as of January 1, 2012, and 8.8 million of them were eligible to become U.S. citizens. The majority (61 percent) obtained LPR status in 2000 or later.
Source of Information:
DHS.gov, July 2013, Publications “Estimates of the Legal Permanent Resident Population in 2012”