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.
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.