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The number of people obtaining green cards fell slightly in fiscal year 2025, according to Department of Homeland Security data, but the overall decline masked major shifts within the system, including a drop of more than 93,000 Cuban recipients and a one-third decline in refugee-based green cards.
The DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics reported that 1,320,080 people obtained lawful permanent resident status in fiscal year 2025, down from 1,356,760 in fiscal year 2024, a decrease of 36,680, or about 2.7 percent.
The figures are from DHS’s fiscal year 2025 report on lawful permanent residents. Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025, while fiscal year 2024 covered October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. Fiscal 2024 occurred entirely under former President Joe Biden‘s administration, while fiscal 2025 included the final months of Biden’s presidency and the first eight months of President Donald Trump‘s second term after he took office on January 20, 2025.
The shift in who received green cards in fiscal year 2025 comes as the Trump administration has moved to tighten the legal immigration system through expanded applicant scrutiny, stricter financial eligibility reviews and reductions in humanitarian pathways. While the overall number of new lawful permanent residents declined only modestly, the composition of recipients changed, as refugee-based green cards fell by more than one-third during a fiscal year that also saw the Trump administration pursue a series of changes affecting legal immigration pathways.
What the Data Shows
Of the 1,320,080 people who obtained lawful permanent resident status in fiscal 2025, 746,830 were already in the U.S. and adjusted status, while 573,260 were new arrivals, according to the government data.
The annual decline came despite a rebound in the final quarter of fiscal 2025. Green card grants fell from 356,750 in the first quarter to 323,810 in the second quarter and 307,160 in the third quarter, before rising to 332,370 in the fourth quarter.
That pattern did not occur the previous year. In fiscal 2024, the number of people obtaining lawful permanent resident status rose in every quarter, increasing from 281,810 in the first quarter to 329,740 in the second, 369,480 in the third, and 375,730 in the fourth.
The underlying data show significant shifts in both the types of immigrants obtaining green cards and the countries they came from.
Among major admission categories, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens remained by far the largest source of green card recipients, increasing from 669,160 in fiscal 2024 to 684,530 in fiscal 2025. Family-sponsored preference immigrants also increased, rising from 184,670 to 196,740.
At the same time, employment-based green cards fell from 170,980 to 159,070, while the number of refugees obtaining green cards plummeted from 178,200 to 116,470, a drop of more than one-third.
One of the largest gains occurred among asylees, whose green card grants rose from 41,650 to 60,390, an increase of about 45 percent.
Regional figures also reveal major changes. The number of green cards granted to immigrants from North America fell from 584,230 in fiscal 2024 to 493,520 in fiscal 2025, while totals increased for immigrants from Asia, rising from 431,480 to 460,090, and Africa, which increased from 117,480 to 142,320.
At the country level, the most significant shift involved Cuba. The number of Cuban nationals obtaining lawful permanent resident status fell from 178,130 in fiscal 2024 to 84,820 in fiscal 2025, a decline of 93,310, or more than half.
The drop among Cuban nationals alone was more than twice the size of the overall decrease in green-card grants, indicating increases among other nationalities offset much of the decline elsewhere.
Several countries recorded notable increases. The number of lawful permanent residents from the Philippines increased by about 11,000 compared with the previous year, while substantial gains were also recorded for immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Syria and Yemen.
The data suggest that while overall green card issuance remained relatively stable between the two fiscal years, the composition of recipients shifted. Family-based categories continued to account for most new lawful permanent residents, refugee-based grants declined, and asylee adjustments grew.
The data does not show a collapse in legal immigration, but it does show a system being reshaped amid a shift in who is gaining permanent residence under a more restrictive immigration policy environment.
Green Card Policy Changes
The shift in green-card issuance occurred as the Trump administration changed how immigration officials evaluate applications for permanent residency and increased scrutiny of some legal immigration pathways.
The administration revised guidance governing adjustment of status, the process that allows eligible immigrants already in the United States to apply for green cards without leaving the country. In May, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) directed officers to apply broader discretionary review when deciding applications and emphasized that adjustment of status is a discretionary benefit rather than an entitlement.
On June 5, a federal judge in Rhode Island blocked a Trump administration policy that paused decisions on green cards and other immigration benefits for applicants from 39 countries, ruling that USCIS exceeded its legal authority.
USCIS has also placed renewed emphasis on financial eligibility reviews, including the public-charge rule, which allows officers to consider whether applicants may become dependent on certain government benefits.
In addition, the agency has expanded vetting procedures, directing officers to consider additional factors and increasing the role of discretionary review in adjudications.
The administration also gained greater authority over some lawful permanent residents after a June Supreme Court ruling involving green-card holders returning from abroad. The court ruled that immigration officers do not need “clear and convincing evidence” of a disqualifying crime before treating some returning permanent residents as applicants for admission rather than as returning residents.
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