USCIS 2018 Statistical Annual Report Shows Increase in the Number of Newly Naturalized U.S. Citizens, Decrease in H-1B Approval Rates

On May 31, 2019, USCIS released its 2018 Statistical Annual Report, the first annual report released by the agency in nearly 10 years. The report is limited to show data and statistics for the most widely-used immigrant and nonimmigrant programs from 2018, as compared to the previous four years. Notably, the report shows that more individuals became naturalized U.S. citizens in 2018 than in any of the previous years depicted in the report. The report also provides information on the highly sought after H-1B visa, revealing that the 2018 approval rate for H-1B visa applications was 85%, compared to 93% approved in 2017.