Indians rank third in receiving US green cards in 2010

Indians are ranked third after Mexico and China in a list of countries whose nationals were among over a million people who received legal permanent residence status (LPRs), popularly known as green cards, in the US last year, according to official figures.

In the list, Mexicans topped with 139,120 green cards followed by Chinese with 70,863 and Indians with 69,169.

The number of Indians receiving green cards jumped significantly than the previous years -- 57,304 in 2009 and 63,352 in 2008.

"The leading countries of birth of new LPRs were Mexico (13%), China (7%), and India (7%)," said a report issued by the Department of Homeland Security.

They were followed by Philippines (5.6%) and the Dominican Republic (5.2%), it said.

"These five countries accounted for nearly 38% of all new LPRs in 2010," the report said.

Together, Asia and North America accounted for 70% or more of the LPR flow each year from 2008 to 2010. However, the number of individuals granted LPR status in 2010 decreased 7.8% from 1,130,818 in 2009 to 1,042,625.

Family-sponsored immigrants -- immediate relatives of US citizens and family preference classes of admission -- represented 66% of the total LPR flow in 2010.

Immediate relatives of US citizens accounted for 46% of all individuals granted LPR status in 2010. Spouses of US citizens represented 57% of immediate relative LPRs.

Parents of US citizens accounted for 24%, and children of US citizens, including adopted orphans, comprised 19%.

According to the report, California was the state of residence of one-fifth (20%) of persons granted LPR status in 2010.

Other leading states of residence included New York (14.2%), Florida (10.3%), Texas (8.4%) and New Jersey (5.5%). These five states represented the residence of 58% of new LPRs in 2010, it said.

The leading metropolitan areas of residence for new LPRs in 2010 were New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA (17.8%) and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA (8.4%).

Other prominent metropolitan areas of residence included Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, in Florida, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, and Chicago-Naperville-Joliet.

These five metropolitan areas accounted for the residence of 40% of new LPRs in 2010, the report said.