Applications for J’can citizenship surge across US

NEW YORK:

Applications for Jamaican citizenship through the United States have surged, with new figures showing a sharp increase in people seeking citizenship by descent and marriage.

Data from the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, DC, revealed that applications climbed 25 per cent in 2025, rising to 2,899 from 2,214 in 2024.

The biggest percentage jump came from people seeking citizenship through marriage. Applications in that category leapt 76 per cent, moving from 88 in 2024 to 155 in 2025.

Citizenship by descent, however, continued to dominate the numbers. The embassy reported 2,273 applications in that category for 2025.

At the Jamaican Consulate in New York, more than 1,400 people applied for Jamaican citizenship between April 2025 and March 2026. Of that figure, 1,322 were granted citizenship by descent, while 79 received citizenship through marriage. Four people renounced their Jamaican citizenship during the same period.

That represented a slight decline from the previous year, when approximately 1,518 people received Jamaican citizenship between April 2024 and March 2025, including 1,400 by descent.

Meanwhile, the Jamaican Consulate in Miami reported a significant increase in applications, receiving 921 citizenship requests in 2025-2026 compared with 688 the previous year.

Processing times remain lengthy, especially for applicants seeking citizenship through marriage. Citizenship by descent applications are typically processed within three to six months, while marriage applications can take up to four years.

Under Jamaican law, citizenship by descent applies to people born outside of Jamaica to Jamaican parents. Eligibility may also be claimed through Jamaican grandparents. Foreign spouses of Jamaican citizens can also apply for citizenship, as can adopted children.

Among those recently granted Jamaican citizenship through marriage was Trinidad-born businessman Ruthven Wallace, who said Jamaica had long held a special place in his life.

“I am super happy to have receive my Jamaican citizenship and Jamaican passport,” Wallace told The Gleaner.

Wallace said he first applied in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the process. 

Married to his Jamaican wife for more than 14 years, Wallace was born in Trinidad and Tobago but fell in love in Jamaica at age around 16 years when he visited the island for the CARIFTA Games in 1979. 

“I would sit with a Jamaican professor and gaze at the Blue Mountain range and think about how nice it would be to live in Jamaica,” he said.

According to Wallace, one of the persons who took him under his wing was the late Herb McKinley, whose advice helped to chart his life’s course.

Wallace, who later moved to New York and built his own business, said the warmth of the Jamaican people, culture, and icons such as Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey deeply influenced him.

He told The Gleaner that he has visited the island several times, the last time being shortly after Hurricane Melissa hit last year. He is set to return to Jamaica in August.

For Wallace, the Jamaican people are hospitable, warm, welcoming, supportive, and caring. Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey, he said, are a big influence on him.

Wallace believes that investment potential in Jamaica is great, and while he currently has small investments in the country, hopes to expand them

The Gleaner sought comparable citizenship figures from the Jamaican Consulate in New York and the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, DC, but did not receive them despite assurances that the data would be provided.

editorial@gleanerjm.com