B visa refusal rates by country

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

FY2019 data have been published 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/RefusalRates/FY19.pdf

 

North Korea, Micronesia and Palau had 100% refusal rates.

Next worst Libya, Iran and Somalia all in the 80s.

Edited November 8, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

Vietnam is 27.3%. Yay!

[Boiler 45,657]

Western Sahara seems the best place to apply.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

14 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Western Sahara seems the best place to apply.

It’s not even listed in their other tables so I’m assuming it’s some kind of quirk. Maybe one person applied and got approved? 

[Eric&Mirella 367]

Shocked that Venezuela went from the high 80s to 59%  in just one year. 

[Boiler 45,657]

37 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

It’s not even listed in their other tables so I’m assuming it’s some kind of quirk. Maybe one person applied and got approved? 

I was sort of pointing out the spurious nature of these figures.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

14 minutes ago, Eric&Mirella said:

Shocked that Venezuela went from the high 80s to 59%  in just one year. 

It was 74% in FY2018, not high 80s. So still a reduction but not as stark. And also on far fewer numbers though. In FY18, 21.4k B visas were issued, down to just 14.7k last year,. Working back (I’m sure the actual numbers are out there somewhere but this is rough based on issued and refusal rates) only around 36k people applied last year compared to 82k the previous year. Whether high refusal rates discouraged those most likely to be or whether the situation just made it really difficult to apply for many people - it looks like the main reason for the fall was a smaller pool of (relatively) stronger applicants. It is of course still a very high refusal rate.

[Moe428 129]

How does this rate work for Canada and countries with VWP?  Does it only report on those individuals that wanted to be in the US for longer than the maximum visa-free period?

Edited November 9, 2019 by Moe428

[HRQX 4,145]

2 hours ago, Moe428 said:

Does it only report on those individuals that wanted to be in the US for longer than the maximum visa-free period?

In the case of both Canada and Bermuda, it's those that "are inadmissible to the United States under immigration law, or have previously violated the terms of their immigration status in the United States"; DOS info on the waiver process: https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM030503.html For VWP countries, it's individuals that were denied an ESTA* or those that want a B for potentially longer visits. Trying for a B for potentially longer visits isn't recommended; odds are they'll deny it and then the subsequent ESTA application will most likely be denied.

*Some ESTA denials are for individuals that "are inadmissible to the United States under immigration law, or have previously violated the terms of their immigration status in the United States."

Edited November 9, 2019 by HRQX

[zochu 255]

Why would Micronesia have 100% refusal rate. I get why North Korea does 

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

18 hours ago, Boiler said:

I was sort of pointing out the spurious nature of these figures.

I am so surprised Haiti is only 60! It’s definitely decreased. Good for Haitians but it doesn’t seem completely accurate..

[Albatross 16]

VERY misleading.  Citizens of Palau and Micronesia do NOT need a visa to travel to the USA.  They are GUARANTEED entry due to what is called "Compact/Impact," because Palau and Micronesia were "US Trust Territories" from WW2, and part of granting them independence from the US was to guarantee their citizens unlimited access to the USA. 

[geowrian 22,337]

8 hours ago, Moe428 said:

How does this rate work for Canada and countries with VWP?  Does it only report on those individuals that wanted to be in the US for longer than the maximum visa-free period?

2 hours ago, Albatross said:

VERY misleading.  Citizens of Palau and Micronesia do NOT need a visa to travel to the USA.  They are GUARANTEED entry due to what is called "Compact/Impact," because Palau and Micronesia were "US Trust Territories" from WW2, and part of granting them independence from the US was to guarantee their citizens unlimited access to the USA. 

The statistics are only for B visas. People who travel using the VWP are not included. People who do not need any document besides their passport (i.e. Canadians and US nationals (but not citizens)) are not included. It's only people who applied for a B-1 or B-2 visa at a consulate.

[Crazy Cat 41,979]

2 hours ago, Albatross said:

VERY misleading.  Citizens of Palau and Micronesia do NOT need a visa to travel to the USA.  They are GUARANTEED entry due to what is called "Compact/Impact," because Palau and Micronesia were "US Trust Territories" from WW2, and part of granting them independence from the US was to guarantee their citizens unlimited access to the USA. 

Not guaranteed entry according to this document:  https://www.fsmgov.org/status.pdf

 

 

"Travel of Citizens of FSM OR RMI to the United States Citizens of the FSM and RMI by birth and those citizens of the former TTPI who acquired FSM or RMI citizenship in 1986 are entitled under the Compacts to travel and apply for admission to the United States as nonimmigrants without visas. However, admission is not guaranteed. Most grounds of inadmissibility under U.S. immigration laws, such as criminal convictions, are applicable. Page 2 www.uscis.gov If determined admissible under the Compacts, an FSM or RMI citizen may live, study and work in the United States. The United States has the right to set terms and conditions on the nonimmigrant stay of FSM and RMI citizens. Currently, they are granted an unlimited length of stay."

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Official non-immigrant visa statistics show a handful (high teens/low twenties per country)  of A and B visas issued last FY (2018) for Palau and Micronesia (these are by nationality not issuing post). For that year refusal rates were 71% for Palau and 100% for Micronesia ( had 2 B1 visas but no B2 visas issued that year).  So there are some cases that apparently do need visas. No idea how these compare to to total travelers per yer.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/NIVDetailTables/FY18NIVDetailTable.pdf

 

Obviously the categories that are both more reliable statistically and that most people here are interested  in are the countries where many people apply.  The main purpose of my posting this was to get some objective numbers out there, for when we get people making wild claims about 80% rejection rates for countries that actually have like 25% rates etc. 

 

50 minutes ago, geowrian said:

The statistics are only for B visas. People who travel using the VWP are not included. People who do not need any document besides their passport (i.e. Canadians and US nationals (but not citizens)) are not included. It's only people who applied for a B-1 or B-2 visa at a consulate.

Technically it’s actually only B2 visas according to the table heading but they are “adjusted”, I guess for the combined B1/B2 visas that are the most common ones issued.  Edit: actually the latest table does just say B visas, the previous ones were B2. Maybe that partly explains some of the change from previous year though I can’t imagine it’s a statistically significant impact.

Edited November 9, 2019 by SusieQQQ