Asians benefit from immigration sponsorship by relatives (“chain migration”): People of Asian origin obtaining legal permanent resident (“green card”) status in U.S., by broad class of admission, 2015
| Immediate relative | Other family | Employment | Diversity | Refugees and asylees | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | 44% | 52% | 3% | |||
| Bangladesh | 42% | 52% | 5% | 1% | ||
| Pakistan | 45% | 38% | 13% | 4% | ||
| Philippines | 53% | 28% | 19% | |||
| Japan | 57% | 3% | 36% | 3% | ||
| China | 37% | 19% | 30% | 13% | ||
| India | 32% | 23% | 43% | 2% | 1% | |
| Taiwan | 40% | 14% | 43% | 3% | ||
| Thailand | 44% | 4% | 4% | 46% | 2% | |
| South Korea | 38% | 6% | 56% | |||
| Nepal | 17% | 5% | 11% | 27% | 41% | |
| Burma | 5% | 4% | 1% | 89% | ||
| Bhutan | 1% | 99% | ||||
| All Other Asian | 29% | 10% | 10% | 11% | 31% | 8% |
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to disclosure requirements. Legal permanent resident (LPR) status, commonly referred to as a “green card,” is also known as a “permanent immigrant visa.” LPR status allows immigrants who meet certain requirements to become naturalized citizens after five years, or sooner, in some cases. Diversity refers to the Diversity Visa lottery, in which people who are nationals of a country that is underrepresented in terms of who gets green cards may apply for the chance to obtain a green card (U.S. CIS 2018). The employment-based (EB) green card pathway has five “preference” categories (U.S. CIS 2021b).
Source: Adapted from Wong 2018. The data are derived from 2015 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics Table 10 (U.S. DHS OIS 2016).