| Travel and business are the top two reasons people get US visas. But people also arrive in the US for education, family, and safety, and there are visas for all these situations. We now have data on 83 visa types on our site, so here’s a look at who’s coming to America (on a visa). |
| The US issued 11 million visas in fiscal year 2024, the most recent year for which data is available. Compare that with the average number of visas issued annually from 2013 (the first year of available data) to 2019: 9.68 million. The number of issued visas fell 68.0% from 8.7 million in 2019 to 2.8 million in 2021. By 2023, the number was back to 10.4 million, on par with pre-pandemic levels. Twenty-two percent of visas, the highest share issued in FY 2024, went to Mexican nationals, totaling 2.41 million recipients. The next-highest visa-holding groups were from India (1.37 million or 12.5%) and Brazil (1.17 million or 10.7%). Examples of work visas include the H-1B (specialty occupations) or H-2A (temporary agricultural workers). Tourism/business visas are for short-term travel, medical care, or business meetings. The most common is the B1/B2 visitor visa. Safety visas are for certain crime victims. The US did issue these in FY 2024, but at rates so low they don’t read on the chart above. For example, it issued 155 U-1 visas, which are for people who have agreed to cooperate with law enforcement after being victims of certain crimes that violated federal law or occurred in the US. Visas themselves don’t include permanent residency cards or applications for asylee or refugee status. |
Immigration Insight 