Is Nicki Minaj a U.S. citizen? What we know about her immigration status

As rapper Nicki Minaj expressed her support for U.S. President Donald Trump and joined him at a Republican campaign rally in late October, many people questioned (archived) her own citizenship status. 

Numerous posts (archived) claimed that while Minaj called on voters to support Republican candidates in the midterm elections, she herself cannot vote because she isn’t a citizen.

One X user wrote, “The GOP is telling people to ‘vote red’ with Nicki Minaj as the messenger. Problem is, she can’t even vote. She’s not a U.S. citizen.”

Minaj wrote in a Jan. 28 X post that she was “finalizing” her citizenship paperwork. In the same post, she suggested she was a lawful permanent resident, commonly known as a green-card holder. Noncitizens, including permanent legal residents, cannot vote in federal or state elections and most local elections. 

Since a person’s immigration record is not publicly available, we were unable to confirm Minaj’s immigration status using primary evidence as of this writing.

We also reached out to her record label, the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to learn more, and will update this story if we receive responses. Until then, we leave this claim unrated.

On Jan. 28, Minaj wrote on X:

Residency? Residency? The cope is coping. 😅
Finalizing that citizenship paperwork as we speak as per MY wonderful, gracious, charming President. 
Thanks to the petition. 📋 
I wouldn’t have done it without you. 
Oh CitizenNIKA you are thee moment

Gold Trump card free of charge

Minaj was referring to the Trump administration’s “gold card” visa, which guarantees foreigners U.S. residency for a $1 million fee. In January, The New York Times reported that, per a Department of Homeland Security official, Minaj has been a legal permanent resident in the U.S. for over two decades, meaning she likely would not need to apply for a gold card.

In a 2024 TikTok livestream, Minaj said she was “not a citizen” despite paying “millions of dollars” in taxes. 

In 2018, while posting about children in immigration detention centers, Minaj said on Facebook that she “came to this country as an illegal immigrant @ 5 years old.” She was born in Trinidad and Tobago. In the same post, she wrote, “Please stop this. Can you try to imagine the terror & panic these kids feel right now?” 

Citizenship applications can take around 12 months to process and timing varies based on the applicant’s primary city of residence. Assuming Minaj uses Los Angeles as her primary residence, where she has a home, the process could take more than a year, according to processing times on USCIS website. Given that she has a close relationship with Trump, it is possible her application could be expedited.

On Oct. 25, White House communications director Steven Cheung posted a video of Minaj in Air Force One, pretending to be the new White House press secretary and praising Trump.  

For further reading, Snopes has reported on the unsupported rumor that Minaj was the only “Trump gold card” visa recipient, and the claim that her husband is a registered sex offender. 

Sources