Indians represent the third largest immigrant population in the United States, after the Mexicans and the Chinese, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Around 1.86 million Indians were living in the United States in 2011 and now that number has increased. The number of Indian immigrants in the United States, among all foreign-born immigrants, has increased from 0.5 percent to 5 percent, over the past 50 years. There are more than 40 million immigrants in America and Indians represent around 5 percent of the total immigrant population.
According to the Migration Policy Institute’s report, immigrants from India possess good English language skills and they are well educated. They enter into the country on employment-based visas. They earn well and do not live below the federal poverty line.
More than three-quarters of Indian immigrants hold bachelor’s degrees or higher. Many Indians work in information technology occupations, management, business, and finance. These are the top occupations that have employed and employ people from India.
Last year, more than 66,000 Indians received their Green Cards and obtained lawful status in the United States. Huge number of Indians obtain Green Cards through the employment-based channel. 43,000 Indian immigrants obtained US citizenship in 2012. Most of the Indian immigrants are interested in becoming US citizens, though India does not recognize dual citizenship. The percentage of Indian immigrants who have naturalized is higher than the overall foreign-born population.
In 1960, only 12,000 Indians were living in the United States and now there are around 1.9 million Indians in the United States. More than one-quarter of the Indian immigrants live in Greater New York, Chicago and San Jose. 21 percent of the immigrants from India have settled in California. The others have settled in Texas (9 per cent), New York (8 per cent), and Illinois (7 per cent).
In 2011, according to the report, two percent of all unauthorized residents in America were Indians. The number of undocumented immigrants from India has also increased from 120,000 to 200,000 between 2000 and 2009.