Naturalization rate of Mexicans vs. other immigrant groups, 1995 to 2015 % naturalized among immigrants eligible to become USS citizens
The overall percentage of lawful immigrants to the United States choosing to apply for and gaining citizenship is at its highest level in more than two decades. Yet in terms of naturalization rate, Mexicans – the single largest group of lawful immigrants by country of origin – lag well behind green-card holders eligible to apply from other parts of the globe.
Based on Pew Research Center estimates using the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data available, two-thirds (67%) of lawful immigrants eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship had applied for and obtained citizenship by 2015. This is the highest share since at least the mid-1990s. But among Mexican lawful immigrants eligible to apply, only 42% had applied for and obtained U.S. citizenship by 2015, a rate little changed since 2005 and one of the lowest among all immigrant groups when it comes to country of origin.
As part of a larger survey of Hispanic immigrants fielded in late 2015, Pew Research Center asked Mexican green-card holders why they had not yet become naturalized U.S. citizens. The most frequent reasons centered on inadequate English skills, lack of time or initiative, and the cost of the U.S. citizenship application. These appear to be significant barriers, as nearly all lawful immigrants from Mexico said they would like to become U.S. citizens someday.
In the United States, the citizenship, or naturalization, rate among all lawful immigrants steadily increased from 1995 to 2005, rising from 47% to 62%. Until about 2005, the naturalization rate among lawful immigrants from Mexico also increased steadily, but did so more rapidly (from 20% in 1995 to 38% in 2005), narrowing the gap between Mexicans and other immigrants. However, between 2005 and 2010, the naturalization rate of Mexican green-card holders leveled off, even as the rate for lawful permanent residents from other parts of the globe continued to rise. Only in the period from 2011 to 2015 did the rate of naturalization among eligible Mexican immigrants significantly increase again at a pace higher than that of other lawful U.S. immigrants – going from 38% to 42% among Mexicans, compared with a 2-percentage-point increase, from 72% to 74% among non-Mexican immigrants.
Naturalization rate of Mexicans vs. other immigrant  | groups, 1995 to 2015  | % naturalized among immigrants eligible to become USS citizens  | 80  | Other  | 74  | 68  | 60  | 54  | Mexico  | 40  | 42  | 38  | 20  | 20  | 2000  | 2005  | 2010  | 2015  | 1995  | Note: Natura lization is the process through which U.S lawful permanentresidents who  | fulfill length of stay and other requirements become y. S. citizens.  | Source Pew Research Centerestimates for 2005-2015 based on augmented American  | Community Survey (IPUMS); for 1995 2003 based on March Supplements to the Current  | Population Survey.  | "Mexican Lawful Immigrants Among the LeastLikely to Become U.S Citizens"  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 