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Chile · South America
U.S. visas issued to nationals of Chile
The reports below contain preliminary data which are subject to change. Beginning with FY 2020, individual monthly issuance reports should not be aggregated, as this will not provide an accurate issuance total for the fiscal year to date. Instead, refer to our annual Report of the Visa Office for final full Fiscal Year statistics.
Nationals of Chile were issued 1,929 U.S. nonimmigrant visas in September 2025, close to September 2024 (1,819, +6%), the 47th largest nationality of 203 in the month's table.
For the full fiscal year the Department's Report of the Visa Office lists 24,589 nonimmigrant visas issued to nationals of Chile in FY2024, 0.2% of the 10,969,936 issued worldwide and the 54th largest nationality of 197. The previous year's figure was 20,378 (FY2023).
The largest classes in September 2025 were B1/B2 (temporary visitor for business and pleasure) with 803, J1 (exchange visitor) with 440 and H1B1 (free Trade Agreement professional) with 139. 35 immigrant visas were issued to applicants chargeable to Chile in the same month, led by E1 (6) and IR2 (6).
The Department's adjusted refusal rate for B (visitor) visa applicants who are nationals of Chile was 16.38% in FY2025, close to the South America median of 19.81%; it was 20.15% in FY2024. The rate covers B visas only and is the Department's own calculation, counting each applicant once by their final status in the year.
In the Diversity Visa program, 83 entrants chargeable to Chile were selected for DV-2026, 0.1% of all selectees that year; the count was 61 for DV-2025. Selection is not a visa; the Department's pages explain that selectees must still qualify and that more are selected than there are visas.
The U.S. post in Chile (Santiago) issued 2,196 nonimmigrant visas in September 2025, to applicants of all nationalities.
Nonimmigrant issuances by month
Compared with the South America region and the world
| Measure | Chile | South America (12 nationalities) | All nationalities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonimmigrant visas, FY2024, Report of the Visa Office | 24,589 | 2,533,633 | 10,969,936 |
| Median nationality, FY2024, Report of the Visa Office | — | 66,418 | 7,901 |
| Nonimmigrant visas, Sep 2025 | 1,929 | 204,551 | 823,557 |
| Change on Sep 2024 | +6% | — | -11% |
| Immigrant visas, Sep 2025 | 35 | — | 45,966 |
| B-visa adjusted refusal rate, FY2025 | 16.38% | 19.81% | 31.28% |
| DV-2026 selectees | 83 | — | 129,516 |
Fiscal-year rows are the Department's Report of the Visa Office tables; monthly rows are the September 2025 report alone. Region and world refusal figures are medians across the nationalities listed in the Department's table for that year; regions follow the Report of the Visa Office grouping.
Visa classes, FY2024, Report of the Visa Office
| Class | Description (State Department) | Issued, FY2024 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1/B2 | Temporary visitor for business and pleasure | 8,479 | 34.5% |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 4,071 | 16.6% |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 2,135 | 8.7% |
| H1B1 | Free Trade Agreement professional | 2,131 | 8.7% |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 1,959 | 8% |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 1,080 | 4.4% |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 965 | 3.9% |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 735 | 3% |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 488 | 2% |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 463 | 1.9% |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 374 | 1.5% |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 279 | 1.1% |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 216 | 0.9% |
| E2 | Treaty investor, spouse or child | 170 | 0.7% |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 134 | 0.5% |
| C3 | Foreign government official, immediate family, attendant, servant or personal employee, in transit | 102 | 0.4% |
| P1 | Internationally recognized athlete or member of internationally recognized entertainment group | 101 | 0.4% |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 100 | 0.4% |
| O3 | Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2 | 75 | 0.3% |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 71 | 0.3% |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 66 | 0.3% |
| I | Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children | 64 | 0.3% |
| R1 | Alien in a religious occupation | 33 | 0.1% |
| E1 | Treaty trader, spouse or child | 29 | 0.1% |
| H2A | Temporary worker performing agricultural services | 29 | 0.1% |
| G1 | Principal resident representative of recognized foreign government to international organization, staff, or immediate family | 28 | 0.1% |
| M1 | Vocational student and other nonacademic student | 28 | 0.1% |
| O2 | Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O-1 | 26 | 0.1% |
| A1 | Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat or consular officer, or immediate family | 25 | 0.1% |
| B2 | Temporary visitor for pleasure | 23 | 0.1% |
From the Department's annual NIV detail table (nationality by class). Older symbol spellings in the table (B-1,2; H-1B) are shown in the current form.
Visa classes, September 2025
| Class | Description (State Department) | Issued | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1/B2 | Temporary visitor for business and pleasure | 803 | 41.6% |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 440 | 22.8% |
| H1B1 | Free Trade Agreement professional | 139 | 7.2% |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 109 | 5.7% |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 101 | 5.2% |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 76 | 3.9% |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 40 | 2.1% |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 35 | 1.8% |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 25 | 1.3% |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 23 | 1.2% |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 19 | 1% |
| C3 | Foreign government official, immediate family, attendant, servant or personal employee, in transit | 16 | 0.8% |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 16 | 0.8% |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 15 | 0.8% |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 11 | 0.6% |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 10 | 0.5% |
| O3 | Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2 | 9 | 0.5% |
| C1 | Alien in transit | 8 | 0.4% |
| P1 | Internationally recognized athlete or member of internationally recognized entertainment group | 8 | 0.4% |
| E2 | Treaty investor, spouse or child | 7 | 0.4% |
| I | Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children | 4 | 0.2% |
| R1 | Alien in a religious occupation | 4 | 0.2% |
| G1 | Principal resident representative of recognized foreign government to international organization, staff, or immediate family | 3 | 0.2% |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 3 | 0.2% |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 2 | 0.1% |
| O2 | Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O-1 | 1 | 0.1% |
| P3 | Artist or entertainer in a culturally unique program | 1 | 0.1% |
| R2 | Spouse or child of R1 | 1 | 0.1% |
Immigrant visa classes, September 2025 (foreign state of chargeability)
| Class | Description (State Department) | Issued | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Employment first preference (priority workers): person with extraordinary ability, outstanding professor or researcher, multinational executive or manager, spouse and child (E11-E15) | 6 | 17.1% |
| IR2 | Child of U.S. citizen | 6 | 17.1% |
| EW | Employment third preference, other worker (subgroup numerical limit), spouse and child (EW3, EW4, EW5) | 4 | 11.4% |
| IR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen | 4 | 11.4% |
| CR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status) | 3 | 8.6% |
| DV | Diversity immigrant (DV1, DV2, DV3) | 3 | 8.6% |
| IR5 | Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age | 3 | 8.6% |
| E2 | Employment second preference: professional holding advanced degree or alien of exceptional ability, spouse and child (E21-E23) | 2 | 5.7% |
| F1 | Family first preference: unmarried son or daughter of U.S. citizen, and child (F11, F12, B11, B12) | 1 | 2.9% |
| F3 | Family third preference: married son or daughter of U.S. citizen, spouse and child (F31, F32, F33, C31-C33, B31-B33) | 1 | 2.9% |
| F4 | Family fourth preference: brother or sister of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age, spouse and child (F41, F42, F43) | 1 | 2.9% |
| FX | Family second preference, exempt from country limitations: spouse or child of lawful permanent resident (FX1, FX2, FX3, CX1-CX3, BX1-BX3) | 1 | 2.9% |
Nonimmigrant issuances by fiscal year, Report of the Visa Office
| Fiscal year | All classes | Visitors (B) | Students, exchange (F, M, J) | Temporary workers | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 14,223 | 3,837 | 4,738 | 2,152 | — |
| FY2016 | 14,322 | 3,851 | 4,469 | 2,308 | +1% |
| FY2017 | 12,192 | 3,016 | 4,155 | 2,349 | -15% |
| FY2018 | 12,774 | 2,853 | 4,474 | 2,553 | +5% |
| FY2019 | 12,119 | 2,615 | 4,306 | 2,680 | -5% |
| FY2020 | 7,574 | 1,878 | 2,526 | 1,591 | -38% |
| FY2021 | 8,941 | 1,419 | 3,445 | 2,860 | +18% |
| FY2022 | 14,198 | 942 | 6,691 | 4,625 | +59% |
| FY2023 | 20,378 | 4,614 | 6,868 | 6,592 | +44% |
| FY2024 | 24,589 | 8,718 | 6,711 | 6,658 | +21% |
Fiscal years run October to September. Every row is the Department's final annual detail table for that year; the visitor, student and worker columns add the table's class columns within one year. No monthly reports are summed.
Adjusted B-visa refusal rate by fiscal year
Dark bar: Chile. Grey bar: South America median for the same year. The Department's rate covers B visas only; it counts each applicant once, in the status in which the fiscal year ended, so an applicant refused and later issued in the same year counts as an issuance. Source tables: FY2023, FY2024, FY2025.
Diversity Visa selectees by program year
| Program year | Selectees chargeable to Chile | Share of all selectees | All selectees |
|---|---|---|---|
| DV-2016 | 17 | 0% | 91,563 |
| DV-2017 | 27 | 0% | 83,910 |
| DV-2018 | 76 | 0.1% | 115,968 |
| DV-2019 | 41 | 0% | 87,610 |
| DV-2020 | 21 | 0% | 83,884 |
| DV-2021 | 36 | 0% | 132,404 |
| DV-2022 | 24 | 0% | 119,021 |
| DV-2023 | 27 | 0% | 119,262 |
| DV-2024 | 51 | 0% | 142,947 |
| DV-2025 | 61 | 0% | 131,060 |
| DV-2026 | 83 | 0.1% | 129,516 |
Counts of selected entrants as published on the Department's "selected entrants" pages; no names are published or held. Selection is not a visa: the Department selects more entrants than visas available, and DV visas are issued only to selectees who qualify before the program year ends.
U.S. posts in Chile
- Santiago: 2,196 nonimmigrant visas issued in Sep 2025, to applicants of all nationalities
Questions and answers
What is the U.S. visa refusal rate for nationals of Chile?
The State Department's adjusted refusal rate for B (business and tourist) visas was 16.38% in FY2025 against a South America median of 19.81%. The Department publishes this rate only for B visas and only by nationality; it counts each applicant once, by the status in which the year ended.
How many U.S. visas were issued to nationals of Chile last year?
24,589 nonimmigrant visas in FY2024, Report of the Visa Office, the Department's final annual figure. In September 2025, the latest monthly report, 1,929 were issued.
How does September 2025 compare with a year earlier for Chile?
1,929 nonimmigrant visas, close to September 2024 (1,819, +6%). Months are compared one to one; the Department says its monthly reports should not be added together.
Which visa classes do nationals of Chile receive most?
B1/B2 (8,479), J1 (4,071), H4 (2,135), H1B1 (2,131) and F1 (1,959) in FY2024, Report of the Visa Office.
How many DV lottery selectees did Chile have?
83 for DV-2026, 0.1% of all selectees. Earlier years: DV-2022 24, DV-2023 27, DV-2024 51, DV-2025 61. Being selected is not a visa; the Department selects more entrants than there are visas available.
Where do nationals of Chile apply?
Santiago is the U.S. post in Chile. Nationals may also apply at posts elsewhere, subject to each post's rules, so the nationality figures on this page and the post figures are different counts.
Where does this data come from?
The State Department's monthly nonimmigrant and immigrant visa issuance tables by nationality, the annual Report of the Visa Office detail tables, the annual adjusted B-visa refusal rate tables and the Diversity Visa selectee pages. Data through 30 Sep 2025.
Provenance
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs. Monthly Nonimmigrant Visa Issuances by Nationality and Visa Class; Monthly Immigrant Visa Issuances by Foreign State of Chargeability or Place of Birth and Visa Class; Report of the Visa Office NIV detail tables (workbook); Adjusted Refusal Rate, B-Visas Only, by Nationality; Diversity Visa selected entrants pages. All public domain. Data through 30 Sep 2025. See corrections.