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Ethiopia · Africa
U.S. visas issued to nationals of Ethiopia
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 Ethiopia were issued 762 U.S. nonimmigrant visas in September 2025, down 59% on September 2024 (1,867), the 75th largest nationality of 203 in the month's table.
For the full fiscal year the Department's Report of the Visa Office lists 25,847 nonimmigrant visas issued to nationals of Ethiopia in FY2024, 0.2% of the 10,969,936 issued worldwide and the 53rd largest nationality of 197. The previous year's figure was 26,917 (FY2023).
The largest classes in September 2025 were B1/B2 (temporary visitor for business and pleasure) with 450, C1/D (combined transit and crewmember visa) with 90 and K1 (fiance(e) of U.S. citizen) with 55. 788 immigrant visas were issued to applicants chargeable to Ethiopia in the same month, led by IR1 (241) and IR5 (186).
The Department's adjusted refusal rate for B (visitor) visa applicants who are nationals of Ethiopia was 53.64% in FY2025, close to the Africa median of 55.57%; it was 51.17% 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, 3,287 entrants chargeable to Ethiopia were selected for DV-2026, 2.5% of all selectees that year; the count was 3,674 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 Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) issued 690 nonimmigrant visas in September 2025, to applicants of all nationalities.
Nonimmigrant issuances by month
Compared with the Africa region and the world
| Measure | Ethiopia | Africa (54 nationalities) | All nationalities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonimmigrant visas, FY2024, Report of the Visa Office | 25,847 | 539,434 | 10,969,936 |
| Median nationality, FY2024, Report of the Visa Office | — | 2,955 | 7,901 |
| Nonimmigrant visas, Sep 2025 | 762 | 23,471 | 823,557 |
| Change on Sep 2024 | -59% | — | -11% |
| Immigrant visas, Sep 2025 | 788 | — | 45,966 |
| B-visa adjusted refusal rate, FY2025 | 53.64% | 55.57% | 31.28% |
| DV-2026 selectees | 3,287 | — | 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 | 20,052 | 77.6% |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 1,804 | 7% |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 1,369 | 5.3% |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 780 | 3% |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 570 | 2.2% |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 240 | 0.9% |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 119 | 0.5% |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 114 | 0.4% |
| A1 | Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat or consular officer, or immediate family | 97 | 0.4% |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 96 | 0.4% |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 90 | 0.3% |
| G1 | Principal resident representative of recognized foreign government to international organization, staff, or immediate family | 75 | 0.3% |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 70 | 0.3% |
| P1 | Internationally recognized athlete or member of internationally recognized entertainment group | 67 | 0.3% |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 55 | 0.2% |
| K2 | Child of K-1 | 52 | 0.2% |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 49 | 0.2% |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 24 | 0.1% |
| E2 | Treaty investor, spouse or child | 21 | 0.1% |
| R1 | Alien in a religious occupation | 19 | 0.1% |
| D | Crewmember (sea or air) | 18 | 0.1% |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 15 | 0.1% |
| C1 | Alien in transit | 11 | 0% |
| C2 | Alien in transit to United Nations Headquarters district | 8 | 0% |
| I | Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children | 8 | 0% |
| A3 | Attendant, servant, or personal employee of A1 or A2, or immediate family | 5 | 0% |
| R2 | Spouse or child of R1 | 5 | 0% |
| P3 | Artist or entertainer in a culturally unique program | 4 | 0% |
| P4 | Spouse or child of P-1, P-2, or P-3 | 4 | 0% |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 3 | 0% |
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 | 450 | 59.1% |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 90 | 11.8% |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 55 | 7.2% |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 46 | 6% |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 22 | 2.9% |
| A1 | Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat or consular officer, or immediate family | 14 | 1.8% |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 12 | 1.6% |
| P1 | Internationally recognized athlete or member of internationally recognized entertainment group | 11 | 1.4% |
| G1 | Principal resident representative of recognized foreign government to international organization, staff, or immediate family | 9 | 1.2% |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 8 | 1% |
| D | Crewmember (sea or air) | 7 | 0.9% |
| C1 | Alien in transit | 5 | 0.7% |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 5 | 0.7% |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 5 | 0.7% |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 5 | 0.7% |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 4 | 0.5% |
| K2 | Child of K-1 | 3 | 0.4% |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 3 | 0.4% |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 2 | 0.3% |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 2 | 0.3% |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 1 | 0.1% |
| C3 | Foreign government official, immediate family, attendant, servant or personal employee, in transit | 1 | 0.1% |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 1 | 0.1% |
| O2 | Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O-1 | 1 | 0.1% |
Immigrant visa classes, September 2025 (foreign state of chargeability)
| Class | Description (State Department) | Issued | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| IR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen | 241 | 30.6% |
| IR5 | Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age | 186 | 23.6% |
| IR2 | Child of U.S. citizen | 104 | 13.2% |
| DV | Diversity immigrant (DV1, DV2, DV3) | 82 | 10.4% |
| FX | Family second preference, exempt from country limitations: spouse or child of lawful permanent resident (FX1, FX2, FX3, CX1-CX3, BX1-BX3) | 70 | 8.9% |
| F2A | Family second preference (2A): spouse or child of lawful permanent resident (F21, F22, F23, C21-C23, B21-B23) | 31 | 3.9% |
| F1 | Family first preference: unmarried son or daughter of U.S. citizen, and child (F11, F12, B11, B12) | 24 | 3% |
| F2B | Family second preference (2B): unmarried son or daughter of lawful permanent resident, and child (F24, F25, C24, C25, B24, B25) | 24 | 3% |
| F4 | Family fourth preference: brother or sister of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age, spouse and child (F41, F42, F43) | 8 | 1% |
| CR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status) | 5 | 0.6% |
| E2 | Employment second preference: professional holding advanced degree or alien of exceptional ability, spouse and child (E21-E23) | 5 | 0.6% |
| E1 | Employment first preference (priority workers): person with extraordinary ability, outstanding professor or researcher, multinational executive or manager, spouse and child (E11-E15) | 4 | 0.5% |
| F3 | Family third preference: married son or daughter of U.S. citizen, spouse and child (F31, F32, F33, C31-C33, B31-B33) | 4 | 0.5% |
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 | 14,573 | 10,986 | 1,259 | 270 | — |
| FY2016 | 20,390 | 16,282 | 1,760 | 264 | +40% |
| FY2017 | 18,826 | 14,405 | 1,616 | 181 | -8% |
| FY2018 | 20,744 | 16,829 | 1,694 | 198 | +10% |
| FY2019 | 20,250 | 15,797 | 1,780 | 249 | -2% |
| FY2020 | 9,959 | 7,726 | 712 | 125 | -51% |
| FY2021 | 18,480 | 14,071 | 2,246 | 155 | +86% |
| FY2022 | 15,958 | 11,273 | 2,389 | 268 | -14% |
| FY2023 | 26,917 | 21,718 | 2,279 | 305 | +69% |
| FY2024 | 25,847 | 20,143 | 2,190 | 359 | -4% |
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: Ethiopia. Grey bar: Africa 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 Ethiopia | Share of all selectees | All selectees |
|---|---|---|---|
| DV-2016 | 4,000 | 4.4% | 91,563 |
| DV-2017 | 4,500 | 5.4% | 83,910 |
| DV-2018 | 4,496 | 3.9% | 115,968 |
| DV-2019 | 3,856 | 4.4% | 87,610 |
| DV-2020 | 1,974 | 2.4% | 83,884 |
| DV-2021 | 3,957 | 3% | 132,404 |
| DV-2022 | 2,988 | 2.5% | 119,021 |
| DV-2023 | 2,761 | 2.3% | 119,262 |
| DV-2024 | 3,034 | 2.1% | 142,947 |
| DV-2025 | 3,674 | 2.8% | 131,060 |
| DV-2026 | 3,287 | 2.5% | 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 Ethiopia
- Addis Ababa: 690 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 Ethiopia?
The State Department's adjusted refusal rate for B (business and tourist) visas was 53.64% in FY2025 against a Africa median of 55.57%. 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 Ethiopia last year?
25,847 nonimmigrant visas in FY2024, Report of the Visa Office, the Department's final annual figure. In September 2025, the latest monthly report, 762 were issued.
How does September 2025 compare with a year earlier for Ethiopia?
762 nonimmigrant visas, down 59% on September 2024 (1,867). Months are compared one to one; the Department says its monthly reports should not be added together.
Which visa classes do nationals of Ethiopia receive most?
B1/B2 (20,052), F1 (1,804), C1/D (1,369), K1 (780) and G4 (570) in FY2024, Report of the Visa Office.
How many DV lottery selectees did Ethiopia have?
3,287 for DV-2026, 2.5% of all selectees. Earlier years: DV-2022 2,988, DV-2023 2,761, DV-2024 3,034, DV-2025 3,674. Being selected is not a visa; the Department selects more entrants than there are visas available.
Where do nationals of Ethiopia apply?
Addis Ababa is the U.S. post in Ethiopia. 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.