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Daily Data InsightsMost immigrants in high-income countries have legal status

Most immigrants in high-income countries have legal status

Bar chart showing the number of immigrants in several high-income countries — the total number of immigrants and the number without legal status. Immigrants without legal status are a small minority in most countries — though the US stands out, with an estimated 22% of its immigrant population lacking legal status.

Immigrants without legal status are only a small fraction of the total immigrant population in most rich countries.

For example, just 7% of immigrants in the United Kingdom lack legal status. It’s 4% in Germany and less than 2% in the Netherlands. The United States stands out, with 22% of its immigrant population lacking legal status — that’s about one in five.

The estimates of immigrants without legal status come from the Measuring Irregular Migration (MIrreM) project and are for one specific year between 2017 and 2023. The total immigrant numbers are from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2020).

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