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Table 25. Nonimmigrant Admissions By Class Of Admission: Fiscal Years 2012 To 2014

The 2014 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics is a compendium of tables that provide data on foreign nationals who are granted lawful permanent residence (i.e., immigrants who receive a “green card”), admitted as temporary nonimmigrants, granted asylum or refugee status, or are naturalized. The Yearbook also presents data on immigration enforcement actions, including apprehensions and arrests, removals, and returns.

Table 25. Nonimmigrant Admissions By Class Of Admission: Fiscal Years 2012 To 2014
Class of Admission 2012 2013 2014
Total all admissions1 165,500,000 173,100,000 180,500,000
Total I-94 admissions2 53,887,286 61,052,260 74,930,606
Temporary workers and families 3,049,419 2,996,743 3,398,961
   Temporary workers and trainees 1,900,582 1,853,915 2,095,175
      CNMI-only transitional workers (CW1) D 1,642 4,045
      Spouses and children of CW1 (CW2) - 404 777
      Temporary workers in specialty occupations (H1B) 473,015 474,355 511,773
      Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreement aliens (H1B1) D 8 29
      Registered nurses participating in the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas (H1C) 29 7 D
      Agricultural workers (H2A)3,4 183,860 204,577 240,620
      Nonagricultural workers (H2B)3 82,906 104,984 105,413
      Returning H2B workers (H2R)3,5 15 9 D
      Trainees (H3) 4,081 4,117 4,306
      Spouses and children of H1, H2, or H3 (H4) 156,668 163,786 184,045
      Workers with extraordinary ability or achievement (O1) 53,941 66,604 83,001
      Workers accompanying and assisting in performance of O1 workers (O2) 16,670 20,762 24,190
      Spouses and children of O1 and O2 (O3) 6,853 8,238 9,940
      Internationally recognized athletes or entertainers (P1) 84,209 85,583 95,470
      Artists or entertainers in reciprocal exchange programs (P2) 12,826 12,306 13,808
      Artists or entertainers in culturally unique programs (P3) 9,290 9,512 11,191
      Spouses and children of P1, P2, or P3 (P4) 3,155 3,565 3,390
      Workers in international cultural exchange programs (Q1) 2,494 2,685 2,976
      Workers in religious occupations (R1) 15,906 14,191 13,839
      Spouses and children of R1 (R2) 4,738 4,337 3,781
      North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) professional workers (TN) 733,692 612,535 712,737
      Spouses and children of TN (TD) 56,223 59,708 69,840
   Intracompany transferees 717,893 723,641 835,707
      Intracompany transferees (L1) 498,899 503,206 591,728
      Spouses and children of L1 (L2) 218,994 220,435 243,979
   Treaty traders and investors 386,472 373,360 422,025
      Treaty traders and their spouses and children (E1) 81,337 71,652 78,100
      Treaty investors and their spouses and children (E2) 288,217 279,288 314,464
      Treaty investors and their spouses and children (CNMI only) (E2C) D 5 D
      Australian Free Trade Agreement principals, spouses and children (E3) 16,916 22,415 29,459
   Representatives of foreign information media 44,472 45,827 46,054
      Representatives of foreign information media and spouses and children (I1) 44,472 45,827 46,054
Students 1,653,576 1,669,225 1,837,664
      Academic students (F1) 1,566,815 1,577,509 1,737,927
      Spouses and children of F1 (F2) 67,563 71,167 78,215
      Vocational students (M1) 17,600 19,106 20,534
      Spouses and children of M1 (M2) 1,598 1,443 988
Exchange visitors 475,232 492,937 557,760
      Exchange visitors (J1) 421,425 433,534 486,827
      Spouses and children of J1 (J2) 53,807 59,403 70,933
Diplomats and other representatives 365,779 373,330 421,144
      Ambassadors, public ministers, career diplomatic or consular officers and their families (A1) 33,700 34,548 39,239
      Other foreign government officials or employees and their families (A2) 172,096 164,896 179,956
      Attendants, servants, or personal employees of A1 and A2 and their families (A3) 1,553 1,381 1,642
      Principals of recognized foreign governments (G1) 15,669 15,254 15,274
      Other representatives of recognized foreign governments (G2) 17,118 16,011 19,346
      Representatives of nonrecognized or nonmember foreign governments (G3) 886 864 804
      International organization officers or employees (G4) 100,760 108,478 116,363
      Attendants, servants, or personal employees of representatives (G5) 1,190 1,137 1,116
      North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials, spouses, and children (N1 to N7) 22,807 30,761 47,404
Temporary visitors for pleasure 42,041,426 48,346,018 59,784,922
      Temporary visitors for pleasure (B2) 24,476,086 29,915,467 40,457,847
      Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure (WT) 16,380,307 17,168,958 18,161,646
      Guam Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure to Guam (GT) X X X
      Guam - Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Visa Waiver Program - temporary visitors for pleasure to Guam or Northern Mariana Islands (GMT) 1,185,033 1,261,593 1,165,429
Temporary visitors for business 5,707,218 6,299,533 7,734,191
      Temporary visitors for business (B1) 2,972,355 3,498,688 4,755,509
      Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business (WB) 2,731,887 2,798,130 2,976,445
      Guam Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business to Guam (GB) X X X
      Guam - Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Visa Waiver Program - temporary visitors for business to Guam or Northern Mariana Islands (GMB) 2,976 2,715 2,237
Transit aliens 313,514 628,711 1,004,916
      Aliens in continuous and immediate transit through the United States (C1) 289,105 608,396 987,546
      Aliens in transit to the United Nations (C2) 4,158 2,269 638
      Foreign government officials, their spouses, children, and attendants in transit (C3) 20,251 18,046 16,732
Commuter students 115,561 105,263 109,833
      Canadian or Mexican national academic commuter students (F3) 115,561 105,263 109,833
      Canadian or Mexican national vocational commuter students (M3) - - -
Alien Fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens and children 32,102 29,773 41,778
      Fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens (K1) 27,977 26,046 36,680
      Children of K1 (K2) 4,125 3,727 5,098
Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act 8,227 3,014 2,275
      Spouses of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K3) 4,534 1,262 1,004
      Children of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K4) 618 417 336
      Spouses of permanent residents, visa pending (V1) 1,928 867 647
      Children of permanent residents, visa pending (V2) 449 271 252
      Dependents of V1 or V2, visa pending (V3) 698 197 36
Other 91 87 72
Unknown 125,141 107,626 37,090

NA Not available.

X Not applicable.

D Data withheld to limit disclosure.

- Represents zero.

1Estimated admission totals rounded to the nearest hundred thousand. Excludes sea and air crew admissions (D1 and D2 visas).

2Beginning in 2010, the number of I-94 admissions greatly exceeds totals reported in previous years due to a more complete count of land admissions.

3Data are not available separately for 2005; during 2005 there were 129,327 admissions for H2 classes (H2A, H2B, H2R).

4Beginning in 2006, annual increases in H2A admissions may be due to more complete recording of pedestrian admissions along the Southwest border.

5Issuances of H2R (returning H2B workers not subject to annual numerical limits) ceased at the end of 2007.

Notes: Admissions represent counts of events, i.e., arrivals, not unique individuals; multiple entries of an individual on the same day are counted as one admission.

The majority of short-term admissions from Canada and Mexico are excluded.

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Last Updated: 11/21/2023
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