Official website of the Department of Homeland Security
Table 25. Nonimmigrant Admissions by Class of Admission: Fiscal Years 2016 to 2018
The 2018 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 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total all admissions 1 | 178,700,000 | 181,100,000 | 186,200,000 |
| Total I-94 admissions 2 | 77,112,073 | 77,643,267 | 81,279,692 |
| Temporary workers and families | 3,937,765 | 3,969,276 | 3,919,567 |
| Temporary workers and trainees | 2,445,854 | 2,447,014 | 2,378,940 |
| CNMI-only transitional workers (CW1) | 7,830 | 8,154 | 4,743 |
| Spouses and children of CW1 (CW2) | 1,025 | 903 | 729 |
| Temporary workers in specialty occupations (H1B) | 542,621 | 531,280 | 570,368 |
| Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreement aliens (H1B1) | 275 | 452 | 581 |
| Registered nurses participating in the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas (H1C) | 8 | 97 | 66 |
| Agricultural workers (H2A) 3 | 352,462 | 412,820 | 298,228 |
| Nonagricultural workers (H2B) | 120,843 | 124,319 | 120,351 |
| Returning H2B workers (H2R) 4 | 11 | 11 | 9 |
| Trainees (H3) | 2,802 | 2,637 | 2,334 |
| Spouses and children of H1, H2, or H3 (H4) | 212,783 | 219,716 | 230,219 |
| Workers with extraordinary ability or achievement (O1) | 102,347 | 111,516 | 120,625 |
| Workers accompanying and assisting in performance of O1 workers (O2) | 28,685 | 30,659 | 33,780 |
| Spouses and children of O1 and O2 (O3) | 13,890 | 15,343 | 16,074 |
| Internationally recognized athletes or entertainers (P1) | 99,262 | 103,097 | 105,856 |
| Artists or entertainers in reciprocal exchange programs (P2) | 13,351 | 14,684 | 16,476 |
| Artists or entertainers in culturally unique programs (P3) | 13,178 | 13,439 | 14,182 |
| Spouses and children of P1, P2, or P3 (P4) | 3,799 | 3,917 | 3,890 |
| Workers in international cultural exchange programs (Q1) | 3,086 | 3,406 | 3,443 |
| Workers in religious occupations (R1) | 14,282 | 14,359 | 14,672 |
| Spouses and children of R1 (R2) | 3,758 | 4,461 | 4,212 |
| North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) professional workers (TN) | 817,517 | 741,899 | 731,496 |
| Spouses and children of TN (TD) | 92,039 | 89,845 | 86,606 |
| Intracompany transferees | 965,228 | 976,508 | 993,288 |
| Intracompany transferees (L1) | 680,621 | 687,096 | 703,102 |
| Spouses and children of L1 (L2) | 284,607 | 289,412 | 290,186 |
| Treaty traders and investors | 478,278 | 496,936 | 503,199 |
| Treaty traders and their spouses and children (E1) | 79,720 | 77,657 | 75,500 |
| Treaty investors and their spouses and children (E2) | 356,990 | 374,201 | 378,374 |
| Treaty investors and their spouses and children (CNMI only) (E2C) | D | - | - |
| Australian Free Trade Agreement principals, spouses and children (E3) | D | 45,078 | 49,325 |
| Representatives of foreign information media | 48,405 | 48,818 | 44,140 |
| Representatives of foreign information media and spouses and children (I1) | 48,405 | 48,818 | 44,140 |
| Students | 1,991,940 | 1,940,171 | 1,957,852 |
| Academic students (F1) | 1,892,644 | 1,845,739 | 1,862,828 |
| Spouses and children of F1 (F2) | 79,436 | 74,461 | 75,344 |
| Vocational students (M1) | 19,006 | 19,129 | 18,838 |
| Spouses and children of M1 (M2) | 854 | 842 | 842 |
| Exchange visitors | 585,504 | 594,185 | 611,373 |
| Exchange visitors (J1) | 513,905 | 523,864 | 537,705 |
| Spouses and children of J1 (J2) | 71,599 | 70,321 | 73,668 |
| Diplomats and other representatives | 442,418 | 450,457 | 457,599 |
| Ambassadors, public ministers, career diplomatic or consular officers and their families (A1) | 41,932 | 42,459 | 43,715 |
| Other foreign government officials or employees and their families (A2) | 181,761 | 180,796 | 184,669 |
| Attendants, servants, or personal employees of A1 and A2 and their families (A3) | 1,307 | 1,406 | 1,178 |
| Principals of recognized foreign governments (G1) | 16,575 | 16,824 | 17,332 |
| Other representatives of recognized foreign governments (G2) | 20,215 | 21,578 | 22,036 |
| Representatives of nonrecognized or nonmember foreign governments (G3) | 1,017 | 1,048 | 1,079 |
| International organization officers or employees (G4) | 125,565 | 130,056 | 132,853 |
| Attendants, servants, or personal employees of representatives (G5) | 1,060 | 1,006 | 972 |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials, spouses, and children (N1 to N7) | 52,986 | 55,284 | 53,765 |
| Temporary visitors for pleasure | 61,029,117 | 61,600,219 | 64,819,854 |
| Temporary visitors for pleasure (B2) | 41,045,833 | 41,117,760 | 44,054,664 |
| Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure (WT) | 18,698,451 | 19,161,211 | 19,591,879 |
| 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) | 1,284,833 | 1,321,248 | 1,173,311 |
| Temporary visitors for business | 8,290,712 | 8,456,038 | 8,967,224 |
| Temporary visitors for business (B1) | 5,156,708 | 5,301,451 | 5,725,099 |
| Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business (WB) | 3,129,890 | 3,152,656 | 3,239,672 |
| 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) | 4,114 | 1,931 | 2,453 |
| Transit aliens | 635,087 | 498,272 | 453,723 |
| Aliens in continuous and immediate transit through the United States (C1) | 618,997 | 483,076 | 441,276 |
| Aliens in transit to the United Nations (C2) | 483 | 357 | 169 |
| Foreign government officials, their spouses, children, and attendants in transit (C3) | 15,607 | 14,839 | 12,278 |
| Commuter students | 67,527 | 35,297 | 18,917 |
| Canadian or Mexican national academic commuter students (F3) | 67,527 | 35,297 | 18,917 |
| Canadian or Mexican national vocational commuter students (M3) | - | - | - |
| Alien fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens and children | 44,390 | 40,878 | 29,077 |
| Fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens (K1) | 38,672 | 35,546 | 25,072 |
| Children of K1 (K2) | 5,718 | 5,332 | 4,005 |
| Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act | 1,212 | 704 | 522 |
| Spouses of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K3) | 437 | 98 | 47 |
| Children of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K4) | 94 | 52 | 16 |
| Spouses of permanent residents, visa pending (V1) | 237 | 200 | 224 |
| Children of permanent residents, visa pending (V2) | 431 | 348 | 226 |
| Dependents of V1 or V2, visa pending (V3) | 13 | 6 | 9 |
| Other | 90 | 63 | 59 |
| Unknown | 86,311 | 57,707 | 43,925 |
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 Published Date:
January 6, 2020