U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Government Website

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Safely connect using HTTPS

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Table 25. Nonimmigrant Admissions By Class Of Admission: Fiscal Years 2013 To 2015

The 2015 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 2013 To 2015
Class of Admission 2013 2014 2015
Total all admissions 1 173,100,000 180,500,000 181,300,000
Total I-94 admissions 2 61,052,260 74,930,606 76,638,236
Temporary workers and families 2,996,743 3,398,961 3,722,543
   Temporary workers and trainees 1,853,915 2,095,175 2,306,962
        CNMI-only transitional workers (CW1) 1,642 4,045 5,096
        Spouses and children of CW1 (CW2) 404 777 883
        Temporary workers in specialty occupations (H1B) 474,355 511,773 537,450
        Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreement aliens (H1B1) 8 29 93
        Registered nurses participating in the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas (H1C) 7 D -
        Agricultural workers (H2A) 3 204,577 240,620 283,580
        Nonagricultural workers (H2B) 104,984 105,413 120,207
        Returning H2B workers (H2R) 4 9 D 12
        Trainees (H3) 4,117 4,306 3,514
        Spouses and children of H1, H2, or H3 (H4) 163,786 184,045 205,521
        Workers with extraordinary ability or achievement (O1) 66,604 83,001 93,086
        Workers accompanying and assisting in performance of O1 workers (O2) 20,762 24,190 26,593
        Spouses and children of O1 and O2 (O3) 8,238 9,940 11,733
        Internationally recognized athletes or entertainers (P1) 85,583 95,470 99,351
        Artists or entertainers in reciprocal exchange programs (P2) 12,306 13,808 14,292
        Artists or entertainers in culturally unique programs (P3) 9,512 11,191 11,729
        Spouses and children of P1, P2, or P3 (P4) 3,565 3,390 3,754
        Workers in international cultural exchange programs (Q1) 2,685 2,976 2,988
        Workers in religious occupations (R1) 14,191 13,839 14,109
        Spouses and children of R1 (R2) 4,337 3,781 3,526
        North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) professional workers (TN) 612,535 712,737 787,180
        Spouses and children of TN (TD) 59,708 69,840 82,265
   Intracompany transferees 723,641 835,707 917,613
        Intracompany transferees (L1) 503,206 591,728 648,611
        Spouses and children of L1 (L2) 220,435 243,979 269,002
  Treaty traders and investors 373,360 422,025 449,732
        Treaty traders and their spouses and children (E1) 71,652 78,100 78,511
        Treaty investors and their spouses and children (E2) 279,288 314,464 335,820
        Treaty investors and their spouses and children (CNMI only) (E2C) 5 D -
        Australian Free Trade Agreement principals, spouses and children (E3) 22,415 29,459 35,401
   Representatives of foreign information media 45,827 46,054 48,236
         Representatives of foreign information media and spouses and children (I1) 45,827 46,054 48,236
   Students 1,669,225 1,837,664 1,990,661
        Academic students (F1) 1,577,509 1,737,927 1,886,948
        Spouses and children of F1 (F2) 71,167 78,215 83,004
        Vocational students (M1) 19,106 20,534 19,878
        Spouses and children of M1 (M2) 1,443 988 831
   Exchange visitors 492,937 557,760 576,347
        Exchange visitors (J1) 433,534 486,827 502,372
        Spouses and children of J1 (J2) 59,403 70,933 73,975
  Diplomats and other representatives 373,330 421,144 438,477
        Ambassadors, public ministers, career diplomatic or consular officers and their families (A1) 34,548 39,239 40,410
        Other foreign government officials or employees and their families (A2) 164,896 179,956 183,104
        Attendants, servants, or personal employees of A1 and A2 and their families (A3) 1,381 1,642 1,449
        Principals of recognized foreign governments (G1) 15,254 15,274 15,947
        Other representatives of recognized foreign governments (G2) 16,011 19,346 21,481
        Representatives of nonrecognized or nonmember foreign governments (G3) 864 804 943
        International organization officers or employees (G4) 108,478 116,363 121,890
        Attendants, servants, or personal employees of representatives (G5) 1,137 1,116 1,093
        North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials, spouses, and children (N1 to N7) 30,761 47,404 52,160
  Temporary visitors for pleasure 48,346,018 59,784,922 61,017,237
        Temporary visitors for pleasure (B2) 29,915,467 40,457,847 41,671,997
        Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure (WT) 17,168,958 18,161,646 18,138,442
        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) 1,261,593 1,165,429 1,206,798
   Temporary visitors for business 6,299,533 7,734,191 8,008,659
        Temporary visitors for business (B1) 3,498,688 4,755,509 4,933,958
        Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business (WB) 2,798,130 2,976,445 3,070,226
        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) 2,715 2,237 4,475
   Transit aliens 628,711 1,004,916 689,990
        Aliens in continuous and immediate transit through the United States (C1) 608,396 987,546 672,420
        Aliens in transit to the United Nations (C2) 2,269 638 524
        Foreign government officials, their spouses, children, and attendants in transit (C3) 18,046 16,732 17,046
   Commuter students 105,263 109,833 100,495
        Canadian or Mexican national academic commuter students (F3) 105,263 109,833 100,495
        Canadian or Mexican national vocational commuter students (M3) - - -
  Alien Fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens and children 29,773 41,778 35,266
        Fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens (K1) 26,046 36,680 30,942
        Children of K1 (K2) 3,727 5,098 4,324
  Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act 3,014 2,275 1,627
        Spouses of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K3) 1,262 1,004 644
        Children of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K4) 417 336 99
        Spouses of permanent residents, visa pending (V1) 867 647 563
        Children of permanent residents, visa pending (V2) 271 252 307
        Dependents of V1 or V2, visa pending (V3) 197 36 14
   Other 87 72 74
   Unknown 107,626 37,090 56,860

X Not applicable.

D Data withheld to limit disclosure.

- Represents zero.

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

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

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

4 Issuances 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
Was this page helpful?
This page was not helpful because the content