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  3. Immigration
  4. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics
  5. Yearbook 2018
  6. Table 25. Nonimmigrant Admissions by Class of Admission: Fiscal Years 2016 to 2018


Table 25. Nonimmigrant Admissions by Class of Admission: Fiscal Years 2016 to 2018

Class of Admission201620172018
Total all admissions 1178,700,000181,100,000186,200,000
Total I-94 admissions 277,112,07377,643,26781,279,692
   Temporary workers and families3,937,7653,969,2763,919,567
      Temporary workers and trainees2,445,8542,447,0142,378,940
      CNMI-only transitional workers (CW1)7,8308,1544,743
      Spouses and children of CW1 (CW2)1,025903729
      Temporary workers in specialty occupations (H1B)542,621531,280570,368
      Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreement aliens (H1B1)275452581
      Registered nurses participating in the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas (H1C)89766
      Agricultural workers (H2A) 3352,462412,820298,228
      Nonagricultural workers (H2B)120,843124,319120,351
      Returning H2B workers (H2R) 411119
      Trainees (H3)2,8022,6372,334
      Spouses and children of H1, H2, or H3 (H4)212,783219,716230,219
      Workers with extraordinary ability or achievement (O1)102,347111,516120,625
      Workers accompanying and assisting in performance of O1 workers (O2)28,68530,65933,780
      Spouses and children of O1 and O2 (O3)13,89015,34316,074
      Internationally recognized athletes or entertainers (P1)99,262103,097105,856
      Artists or entertainers in reciprocal exchange programs (P2)13,35114,68416,476
      Artists or entertainers in culturally unique programs (P3)13,17813,43914,182
      Spouses and children of P1, P2, or P3 (P4)3,7993,9173,890
      Workers in international cultural exchange programs (Q1)3,0863,4063,443
      Workers in religious occupations (R1)14,28214,35914,672
      Spouses and children of R1 (R2)3,7584,4614,212
      North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) professional workers (TN)817,517741,899731,496
      Spouses and children of TN (TD)92,03989,84586,606
   Intracompany transferees965,228976,508993,288
      Intracompany transferees (L1)680,621687,096703,102
      Spouses and children of L1 (L2)284,607289,412290,186
   Treaty traders and investors478,278496,936503,199
      Treaty traders and their spouses and children (E1)79,72077,65775,500
      Treaty investors and their spouses and children (E2)356,990374,201378,374
      Treaty investors and their spouses and children (CNMI only) (E2C)D--
      Australian Free Trade Agreement principals, spouses and children (E3)D45,07849,325
      Representatives of foreign information media48,40548,81844,140
      Representatives of foreign information media and spouses and children (I1)48,40548,81844,140
   Students1,991,9401,940,1711,957,852
      Academic students (F1)1,892,6441,845,7391,862,828
      Spouses and children of F1 (F2)79,43674,46175,344
      Vocational students (M1)19,00619,12918,838
      Spouses and children of M1 (M2)854842842
   Exchange visitors585,504594,185611,373
      Exchange visitors (J1)513,905523,864537,705
      Spouses and children of J1 (J2)71,59970,32173,668
   Diplomats and other representatives442,418450,457457,599
      Ambassadors, public ministers, career diplomatic or consular officers and their families (A1)41,93242,45943,715
      Other foreign government officials or employees and their families (A2)181,761180,796184,669
      Attendants, servants, or personal employees of A1 and A2 and their families (A3)1,3071,4061,178
      Principals of recognized foreign governments (G1)16,57516,82417,332
      Other representatives of recognized foreign governments (G2)20,21521,57822,036
      Representatives of nonrecognized or nonmember foreign governments (G3)1,0171,0481,079
      International organization officers or employees (G4)125,565130,056132,853
      Attendants, servants, or personal employees of representatives (G5)1,0601,006972
      North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials, spouses, and children (N1 to N7)52,98655,28453,765
   Temporary visitors for pleasure61,029,11761,600,21964,819,854
      Temporary visitors for pleasure (B2)41,045,83341,117,76044,054,664
      Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure (WT)18,698,45119,161,21119,591,879
      Guam Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure to Guam (GT)XXX
      Guam - Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Visa Waiver Program - temporary visitors for pleasure to Guam or Northern Mariana Islands (GMT)1,284,8331,321,2481,173,311
   Temporary visitors for business8,290,7128,456,0388,967,224
      Temporary visitors for business (B1)5,156,7085,301,4515,725,099
      Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business (WB)3,129,8903,152,6563,239,672
      Guam Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business to Guam (GB)XXX
      Guam - Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Visa Waiver Program - temporary visitors for business to Guam or Northern Mariana Islands (GMB)4,1141,9312,453
   Transit aliens635,087498,272453,723
      Aliens in continuous and immediate transit through the United States (C1)618,997483,076441,276
      Aliens in transit to the United Nations (C2)483357169
      Foreign government officials, their spouses, children, and attendants in transit (C3)15,60714,83912,278
   Commuter students67,52735,29718,917
      Canadian or Mexican national academic commuter students (F3)67,52735,29718,917
      Canadian or Mexican national vocational commuter students (M3)---
   Alien fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens and children44,39040,87829,077
      Fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens (K1)38,67235,54625,072
      Children of K1 (K2)5,7185,3324,005
   Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act1,212704522
      Spouses of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K3)4379847
      Children of U.S. citizens, visa pending (K4)945216
      Spouses of permanent residents, visa pending (V1)237200224
      Children of permanent residents, visa pending (V2)431348226
      Dependents of V1 or V2, visa pending (V3)1369
   Other906359
   Unknown86,31157,70743,925

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.