In the 2009 fiscal year, the United States issued a total of 1,130,818 green cards (U.S. permanent residency). Among these, 64,238 people from mainland China, 8,038 from Taiwan, and 2,651 from Hong Kong were granted permanent residency.
A statistical report released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on the evening of the 8th shows that the number of people from China obtaining permanent resident status accounted for 5.7% of all green card recipients, with both the number and percentage slightly lower than in the previous two fiscal years.
In the 2008 fiscal year, 80,271 Chinese obtained permanent residency; in the 2007 fiscal year, 76,655 Chinese obtained permanent residency. In both of those years, Chinese nationals accounted for 7.3% of the total number.
Among the new Chinese immigrants who obtained green cards, 11,013 obtained them based on family-sponsored immigration preferences; 11,295 were employment-based immigrants; 23,244 were immediate relatives and spouses of U.S. citizens; 28 were diversity visa lottery immigrants; and 18,486 obtained permanent residency through asylum status.
In the 2009 fiscal year, China remained the second-largest source of immigrants to the U.S., second only to Mexico with 164,920 people. Mexican immigrants accounted for 15% of the total. The Philippines ranked third with 60,029 people obtaining U.S. green cards. India ranked fourth with 57,304 people obtaining U.S. green cards.
The majority of those who obtained permanent residency (667,776 people, or 59%) adjusted their status within the United States, while another 463,042 came from abroad. Nearly two-thirds of the people were family-sponsored immigrants.
20% of new immigrants lived in California, 13% in New York, 11% in Florida, 8.4% in Texas, and 5.2% in New Jersey.
The median age of new immigrants in the 2009 fiscal year was 31, while the median age for the entire U.S. population was 35.
