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Table 25. Nonimmigrant Admissions By Class Of Admission: Fiscal Years 2014 To 2016

The 2016 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.

Class of Admission 2014 2015 2016
Table 25. Nonimmigrant Admissions By Class Of Admission: Fiscal Years 2014 To 2016
Total all admissions 1 180,500,000 181,300,000 178,700,000
Total I-94 admissions 2 74,930,606 76,638,236 76,786,751
Temporary workers and families 3,398,961 3,722,543 3,896,674
   Temporary workers and trainees 2,095,175 2,306,962 2,420,840
     CNMI-only transitional workers (CW1) 4,045 5,096 7,609
     Spouses and children of CW1 (CW2) 777 883 989
     Temporary workers in specialty occupations (H1B) 511,773 537,450 534,365
     Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreement aliens (H1B1) 29 93 268
     Registered nurses participating in the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas (H1C) D - 7
     Agricultural workers (H2A) 3 240,620 283,580 348,052
     Nonagricultural workers (H2B) 105,413 120,207 119,446
     Returning H2B workers (H2R) 4 D 12 11
     Trainees (H3) 4,306 3,514 2,786
     Spouses and children of H1, H2, or H3 (H4) 184,045 205,521 206,180
     Workers with extraordinary ability or achievement (O1) 83,001 93,086 101,930
     Workers accompanying and assisting in performance of O1 workers (O2) 24,190 26,593 28,659
     Spouses and children of O1 and O2 (O3) 9,940 11,733 13,553
     Internationally recognized athletes or entertainers (P1) 95,470 99,351 98,998
     Artists or entertainers in reciprocal exchange programs (P2) 13,808 14,292 13,285
     Artists or entertainers in culturally unique programs (P3) 11,191 11,729 13,123
     Spouses and children of P1, P2, or P3 (P4) 3,390 3,754 3,763
     Workers in international cultural exchange programs (Q1) 2,976 2,988 3,038
     Workers in religious occupations (R1) 13,839 14,109 14,095
     Spouses and children of R1 (R2) 3,781 3,526 3,629
     North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) professional workers (TN) 712,737 787,180 816,149
     Spouses and children of TN (TD) 69,840 82,265 90,905
   Intracompany transferees 835,707 917,613 954,394
     Intracompany transferees (L1) 591,728 648,611 677,583
     Spouses and children of L1 (L2) 243,979 269,002 276,811
   Treaty traders and investors 422,025 449,732 473,211
     Treaty traders and their spouses and children (E1) 78,100 78,511 79,023
     Treaty investors and their spouses and children (E2) 314,464 335,820 353,067
     Treaty investors and their spouses and children (CNMI only) (E2C) D - D
     Australian Free Trade Agreement principals, spouses and children (E3) 29,459 35,401 41,120
   Representatives of foreign information media 46,054 48,236 48,229
     Representatives of foreign information media and spouses and children (I1) 46,054 48,236 48,229
Students 1,837,664 1,990,661 1,954,373
     Academic students (F1) 1,737,927 1,886,948 1,858,644
     Spouses and children of F1 (F2) 78,215 83,004 76,183
     Vocational students (M1) 20,534 19,878 18,726
     Spouses and children of M1 (M2) 988 831 820
Exchange visitors 557,760 576,347 574,617
     Exchange visitors (J1) 486,827 502,372 505,448
     Spouses and children of J1 (J2) 70,933 73,975 69,169
Diplomats and other representatives 421,144 438,477 438,725
     Ambassadors, public ministers, career diplomatic or consular officers and their families (A1) 39,239 40,410 41,183
     Other foreign government officials or employees and their families (A2) 179,956 183,104 180,685
     Attendants, servants, or personal employees of A1 and A2 and their families (A3) 1,642 1,449 1,278
     Principals of recognized foreign governments (G1) 15,274 15,947 16,246
     Other representatives of recognized foreign governments (G2) 19,346 21,481 20,163
     Representatives of nonrecognized or nonmember foreign governments (G3) 804 943 1,010
     International organization officers or employees (G4) 116,363 121,890 124,770
     Attendants, servants, or personal employees of representatives (G5) 1,116 1,093 1,019
     North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials, spouses, and children (N1 to N7) 47,404 52,160 52,371
Temporary visitors for pleasure 59,784,922 61,017,237 60,834,687
     Temporary visitors for pleasure (B2) 40,457,847 41,671,997 40,848,579
     Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure (WT) 18,161,646 18,138,442 18,703,963
     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) 1,165,429 1,206,798 1,282,145
Temporary visitors for business 7,734,191 8,008,659 8,293,746
     Temporary visitors for business (B1) 4,755,509 4,933,958 5,147,037
     Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business (WB) 2,976,445 3,070,226 3,142,597
     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) 2,237 4,475 4,112
Transit aliens 1,004,916 689,990 633,549
     Aliens in continuous and immediate transit through the United States (C1) 987,546 672,420 617,467
     Aliens in transit to the United Nations (C2) 638 524 480
     Foreign government officials, their spouses, children, and attendants in transit (C3) 16,732 17,046 15,602
Commuter students 109,833 100,495 67,522
     Canadian or Mexican national academic commuter students (F3) 109,833 100,495 67,522
     Canadian or Mexican national vocational commuter students (M3) - - -
Alien fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens and children 41,778 35,266 42,634
     Fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens (K1) 36,680 30,942 37,173
     Children of K1 (K2) 5,098 4,324 5,461
Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act 2,275 1,627 1,208
     Spouses of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K3) 1,004 644 439
     Children of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K4) 336 99 93
     Spouses of permanent residents, visa pending (V1) 647 563 237
     Children of permanent residents, visa pending (V2) 252 307 425
     Dependents of V1 or V2, visa pending (V3) 36 14 14
Other 72 74 88
Unknown 37,090 56,860 48,928

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
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