Rabat – The US Department of Homeland Security has issued statistics on nationals who received lawful permanent resident status in the US in the first three quarters of 2018.
The department granted 2,223 Moroccans lawful permanent resident status during the first nine months of 2018.
The data includes Moroccans newly arrived to the US and 720 Moroccans already in the US whose status was adjusted.
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, adjustment of status occurs after candidates apply for lawful permanent resident status or a green card.
Moroccans were among the Arab nationals to obtain the most permanent residences.
Read Also: 293,708 Moroccans Registered for 2018 US Diversity Visa Program
A total of 1,466 Algerians also obtained permanent residence.
More Syrian nationals received permanent residence than any other Arab nationality at 10,931. Egypt was the second most represented at 6,999 nationals.
The department also granted permanent residence to 3,916 Jordanians, 1,895 Lebanese, 1,454 Saudis, 762 Kuwaitis, 393 Libyans, 379 Tunisians, 161 Mauritanians, and 109 Bahrainians
In terms of newly arrived people, the statistics show that 1,503 newly arrived Moroccans also obtained permanent residence.
In the same period, the data shows that 1,818 Moroccans became US citizens by naturalization during the same period.
The US also admitted 14,540 non-migration Moroccan visitors during the first two quarters of 2018.
In October, the US Department of State announced the opening of the registration period for the diversity visa lottery for the year 2020.
Thousands of Moroccans register for the diversity visa annually to secure one of the 50,000 immigrant visas granted each year to foreign citizens.
Despite the high number of Moroccans that apply yearly for the visa, only 900- 1,000 of those selected receive permanent residence visas.
