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Table 25. Nonimmigrant Admissions by Class of Admission: Fiscal Years 2015 to 2017

The 2017 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 2015 to 2017
Class of Admission 2015 2016 1 2017
Total all admissions 2 181,300,000 178,700,000 181,100,000
Total I-94 admissions 3 76,638,236 77,112,073 77,643,267
   Temporary workers and families 3,722,543 3,937,765 3,969,276
      Temporary workers and trainees 2,306,962 2,445,854 2,447,014
         CNMI-only transitional workers (CW1) 5,096 7,830 8,154
        Spouses and children of CW1 (CW2) 883 1,025 903
        Temporary workers in specialty occupations (H1B) 537,450 542,621 531,280
        Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreement aliens (H1B1) 93 275 452
        Registered nurses participating in the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas (H1C) - 8 97
        Agricultural workers (H2A) 4 283,580 352,462 412,820
        Nonagricultural workers (H2B) 120,207 120,843 124,319
        Returning H2B workers (H2R) 5 12 11 11
        Trainees (H3) 3,514 2,802 2,637
        Spouses and children of H1, H2, or H3 (H4) 205,521 212,783 219,716
        Workers with extraordinary ability or achievement (O1) 93,086 102,347 111,516
        Workers accompanying and assisting in performance of O1 workers (O2) 26,593 28,685 30,659
        Spouses and children of O1 and O2 (O3) 11,733 13,890 15,343
        Internationally recognized athletes or entertainers (P1) 99,351 99,262 103,097
        Artists or entertainers in reciprocal exchange programs (P2) 14,292 13,351 14,684
        Artists or entertainers in culturally unique programs (P3) 11,729 13,178 13,439
        Spouses and children of P1, P2, or P3 (P4) 3,754 3,799 3,917
        Workers in international cultural exchange programs (Q1) 2,988 3,086 3,406
        Workers in religious occupations (R1) 14,109 14,282 14,359
        Spouses and children of R1 (R2) 3,526 3,758 4,461
        North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) professional workers (TN) 787,180 817,517 741,899
        Spouses and children of TN (TD) 82,265 92,039 89,845
     Intracompany transferees 917,613 965,228 976,508
        Intracompany transferees (L1) 648,611 680,621 687,096
        Spouses and children of L1 (L2) 269,002 284,607 289,412
     Treaty traders and investors 449,732 478,278 496,936
        Treaty traders and their spouses and children (E1) 78,511 79,720 77,657
        Treaty investors and their spouses and children (E2) 335,820 356,990 374,201
        Treaty investors and their spouses and children (CNMI only) (E2C) - D -
        Australian Free Trade Agreement principals, spouses and children (E3) 35,401 D 45,078
     Representatives of foreign information media 48,236 48,405 48,818
        Representatives of foreign information media and spouses and children (I1) 48,236 48,405 48,818
  Students 1,990,661 1,991,940 1,940,171
        Academic students (F1) 1,886,948 1,892,644 1,845,739
        Spouses and children of F1 (F2) 83,004 79,436 74,461
        Vocational students (M1) 19,878 19,006 19,129
        Spouses and children of M1 (M2) 831 854 842
  Exchange visitors 576,347 585,504 594,185
        Exchange visitors (J1) 502,372 513,905 523,864
        Spouses and children of J1 (J2) 73,975 71,599 70,321
        Diplomats and other representatives 438,477 442,418 450,457
        Ambassadors, public ministers, career diplomatic or consular officers and their families (A1) 40,410 41,932 42,459
        Other foreign government officials or employees and their families (A2) 183,104 181,761 180,796
        Attendants, servants, or personal employees of A1 and A2 and their families (A3) 1,449 1,307 1,406
        Principals of recognized foreign governments (G1) 15,947 16,575 16,824
        Other representatives of recognized foreign governments (G2) 21,481 20,215 21,578
        Representatives of nonrecognized or nonmember foreign governments (G3) 943 1,017 1,048
        International organization officers or employees (G4) 121,890 125,565 130,056
        Attendants, servants, or personal employees of representatives (G5) 1,093 1,060 1,006
        North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials, spouses, and children (N1 to N7) 52,160 52,986 55,284
  Temporary visitors for pleasure 61,017,237 61,029,117 61,600,219
        Temporary visitors for pleasure (B2) 41,671,997 41,045,833 41,117,760
        Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure (WT) 18,138,442 18,698,451 19,161,211
        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) 1,206,798 1,284,833 1,321,248
  Temporary visitors for business 8,008,659 8,290,712 8,456,038
        Temporary visitors for business (B1) 4,933,958 5,156,708 5,301,451
        Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business (WB) 3,070,226 3,129,890 3,152,656
        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) 4,475 4,114 1,931
  Transit aliens 689,990 635,087 498,272
        Aliens in continuous and immediate transit through the United States (C1) 672,420 618,997 483,076
        Aliens in transit to the United Nations (C2) 524 483 357
        Foreign government officials, their spouses, children, and attendants in transit (C3) 17,046 15,607 14,839
  Commuter students 100,495 67,527 35,297
        Canadian or Mexican national academic commuter students (F3) 100,495 67,527 35,297
        Canadian or Mexican national vocational commuter students (M3) - - -
  Alien fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens and children 35,266 44,390 40,878
        Fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens (K1) 30,942 38,672 35,546
        Children of K1 (K2) 4,324 5,718 5,332
  Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act 1,627 1,212 704
        Spouses of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K3) 644 437 98
        Children of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K4) 99 94 52
        Spouses of permanent residents, visa pending (V1) 563 237 200
        Children of permanent residents, visa pending (V2) 307 431 348
        Dependents of V1 or V2, visa pending (V3) 14 13 6
Other 74 90 63
Unknown 56,860 86,311 57,707

X Not applicable.
D Data withheld to limit disclosure.
- Represents zero.
1 Beginning in 2017, the preceding year’s figures (i.e. 2016) will be updated to correct any undercounting due to lag in reporting within the data system between the publication of last year’s data and the current year.
2 Estimated admission totals rounded to the nearest hundred thousand. Excludes sea and air crew admissions (D1 and D2 visas).
3 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.
4 Beginning in 2006, annual increases in H2A admissions may be due to more complete recording of pedestrian admissions along the Southwest border.
5 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: 11/22/2023
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