• Three quarters (76%) of registered voters favor instituting a waiting period for immigrants before they can have permanent resident status.
  • Only 15% oppose it.
  • These numbers include 40% who Strongly Approve, and just 4% who Strongly Oppose.
  • Nearly 9 in 10 Republicans (87%) favor the idea of a waiting period, and 71% of Democrats agree.
• Among those who say there should be a waiting period, 63% say the waiting period should be 2 years or less, and 41% say 1 year or less.
  • Fewer (23%) say someone should wait 5 years, and only 7% say someone should wait as long as 10 years.
• If an immigrant breaks laws during the waiting period, they would not be allowed to stay.
• However, if a person enters the United States legally, has obeyed the law throughout a waiting period, and becomes a permanent resident, 52% say no further waiting period should be required before that person is allowed to become a U.S. citizen.
  • One third (35%) disagree and say a further waiting period should still be required.
  • More Republicans (40%) than Democrats (29%) say there should be a further waiting period.

This data is from a Napolitan News Service survey of 1,000 Registered Voters conducted online by Scott Rasmussen, December 8-9, 2025. RMG Research, Inc., conducted the field work for the survey. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.1.