Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A., Xiaohe Xu, Thomas Kersen, and Bunnak Poch. 2001. “Admission Criteria and “Making It” in America as Citizens.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Washington, D.C., March 29-31, 2001.



This study of immigrant naturalization draws on new data linking immigrants entered over 1978-1991 to their naturalizations as of 1996. Recent studies of economic effects of the new immigrants address questions relevant for immigration policy about admissions by visa class. This research begins to explore experiences of Canadian and European origin immigrants (British, Polish, Irish, Russian, and other) in timing of naturalization focusing on gender and admission criteria. A striking result is that Irish women admitted as professional or skilled workers or as unmarried daughters of citizens were highly likely to naturalize quickly. Males were more likely to naturalize if admitted as spouses of professional workers or as unmarried sons of citizens. These findings are discussed and contrasted with prior results for Latin American and Asian origin immigrants to elaborate the complicated mosaic of contemporary patterns of citizenship and expand the theoretical framework for settlement and citizenship.