People immigrate to the US to work, reunite with family, study, or seek personal safety. In 2021, 42% of the 1.5 million people who immigrated to the US came to work.
What immigration motives does the government track?
The US government generally allows legal immigration for five broad motives: work, school, family, safety, and promotion of diversity.
People who immigrate to work or study often receive temporary entry instead of permanent residence. Immigration for family reasons usually means the immigrant has a relative already in the US as a citizen, green card holder, or temporary visa holder with whom they wish to reunite. Those who immigrate for safety are refugees or asylum seekers. And finally, up to 50,000 immigrants obtain green cards annually through the lottery of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which grants entry to individuals from countries with low immigration rates to the US.
How do immigration motives change depending on where people are immigrating from?
Of the 638,551 immigrants who came to the US to work in 2021, 61% came from North America. Immigrants from Asia represent the largest geographic group among the other four main immigration motives: school (58%), family (45%), safety (34%), and promotion of diversity (33%).
How many immigrants came for each motive in 2021?
Of the 1.5 million people who immigrated to the US in 2021, about 42% came to work, 32% to study, and 23% for family reasons. Nearly 2% sought safety, and about 0.9% were admitted with Diversity Immigrant Visas.
How have immigration motives evolved over the last 15 years?
Since 2006, work has consistently been the main motive for people immigrating to the US, except for 2013–2015, when immigration for work was equal to or slightly lower than for studies.
Studies are generally the second most common motive for immigration, except in 2018, when a larger percentage of people began immigrating for family reunification than for education. In 2021, studies again became the second most common motive.
Safety and diversity have consistently been the fourth and fifth most common motives for immigration, respectively.
Source: USA Facts