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South Africa · Africa
U.S. visas issued to nationals of South Africa
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.
In September 2025, 4,308 nonimmigrant visas were issued to nationals of South Africa, the 28th largest count among 203 nationalities that month; that is down 27% on September 2024 (5,888).
For the full fiscal year the Department's Report of the Visa Office lists 76,304 nonimmigrant visas issued to nationals of South Africa in FY2024, 0.7% of the 10,969,936 issued worldwide and the 22nd largest nationality of 197. The previous year's figure was 80,841 (FY2023).
The largest classes in September 2025 were B1/B2 (temporary visitor for business and pleasure) with 2,359, H2B (temporary worker performing other services) with 698 and C1/D (combined transit and crewmember visa) with 401. 20 immigrant visas were issued to applicants chargeable to South Africa in the same month, led by IR2 (6) and DV (5).
The Department's adjusted refusal rate for B (visitor) visa applicants who are nationals of South Africa was 11.66% in FY2025, below the Africa median of 55.57%; it was 10.65% 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, 187 entrants chargeable to South Africa were selected for DV-2026, 0.1% of all selectees that year; the count was 163 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.
4 U.S. posts in South Africa (Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria) issued 4,147 nonimmigrant visas in September 2025, to applicants of all nationalities.
Nonimmigrant issuances by month
Compared with the Africa region and the world
| Measure | South Africa | Africa (54 nationalities) | All nationalities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonimmigrant visas, FY2024, Report of the Visa Office | 76,304 | 539,434 | 10,969,936 |
| Median nationality, FY2024, Report of the Visa Office | — | 2,955 | 7,901 |
| Nonimmigrant visas, Sep 2025 | 4,308 | 23,471 | 823,557 |
| Change on Sep 2024 | -27% | — | -11% |
| Immigrant visas, Sep 2025 | 20 | — | 45,966 |
| B-visa adjusted refusal rate, FY2025 | 11.66% | 55.57% | 31.28% |
| DV-2026 selectees | 187 | — | 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 | 45,638 | 59.8% |
| H2A | Temporary worker performing agricultural services | 14,694 | 19.3% |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 4,491 | 5.9% |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 3,478 | 4.6% |
| H2B | Temporary worker performing other services | 2,310 | 3% |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 1,346 | 1.8% |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 757 | 1% |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 740 | 1% |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 577 | 0.8% |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 304 | 0.4% |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 295 | 0.4% |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 208 | 0.3% |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 196 | 0.3% |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 153 | 0.2% |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 145 | 0.2% |
| P1 | Internationally recognized athlete or member of internationally recognized entertainment group | 127 | 0.2% |
| C1 | Alien in transit | 121 | 0.2% |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 100 | 0.1% |
| O2 | Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O-1 | 67 | 0.1% |
| R2 | Spouse or child of R1 | 61 | 0.1% |
| R1 | Alien in a religious occupation | 60 | 0.1% |
| M1 | Vocational student and other nonacademic student | 50 | 0.1% |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 49 | 0.1% |
| A1 | Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat or consular officer, or immediate family | 48 | 0.1% |
| I | Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children | 48 | 0.1% |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 47 | 0.1% |
| O3 | Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2 | 40 | 0.1% |
| C3 | Foreign government official, immediate family, attendant, servant or personal employee, in transit | 28 | 0% |
| E2 | Treaty investor, spouse or child | 17 | 0% |
| G1 | Principal resident representative of recognized foreign government to international organization, staff, or immediate family | 15 | 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 | 2,359 | 54.8% |
| H2B | Temporary worker performing other services | 698 | 16.2% |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 401 | 9.3% |
| H2A | Temporary worker performing agricultural services | 310 | 7.2% |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 143 | 3.3% |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 77 | 1.8% |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 51 | 1.2% |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 42 | 1% |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 33 | 0.8% |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 32 | 0.7% |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 22 | 0.5% |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 20 | 0.5% |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 19 | 0.4% |
| C3 | Foreign government official, immediate family, attendant, servant or personal employee, in transit | 15 | 0.3% |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 13 | 0.3% |
| P1 | Internationally recognized athlete or member of internationally recognized entertainment group | 11 | 0.3% |
| I | Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children | 8 | 0.2% |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 8 | 0.2% |
| R1 | Alien in a religious occupation | 8 | 0.2% |
| O2 | Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O-1 | 7 | 0.2% |
| B2 | Temporary visitor for pleasure | 6 | 0.1% |
| A1 | Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat or consular officer, or immediate family | 4 | 0.1% |
| O3 | Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2 | 4 | 0.1% |
| C1 | Alien in transit | 3 | 0.1% |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 3 | 0.1% |
| R2 | Spouse or child of R1 | 3 | 0.1% |
| A3 | Attendant, servant, or personal employee of A1 or A2, or immediate family | 2 | 0% |
| E2 | Treaty investor, spouse or child | 2 | 0% |
| M1 | Vocational student and other nonacademic student | 2 | 0% |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 1 | 0% |
Immigrant visa classes, September 2025 (foreign state of chargeability)
| Class | Description (State Department) | Issued | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| IR2 | Child of U.S. citizen | 6 | 30% |
| DV | Diversity immigrant (DV1, DV2, DV3) | 5 | 25% |
| E2 | Employment second preference: professional holding advanced degree or alien of exceptional ability, spouse and child (E21-E23) | 2 | 10% |
| IR5 | Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age | 2 | 10% |
| CR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status) | 1 | 5% |
| F2A | Family second preference (2A): spouse or child of lawful permanent resident (F21, F22, F23, C21-C23, B21-B23) | 1 | 5% |
| F2B | Family second preference (2B): unmarried son or daughter of lawful permanent resident, and child (F24, F25, C24, C25, B24, B25) | 1 | 5% |
| F4 | Family fourth preference: brother or sister of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age, spouse and child (F41, F42, F43) | 1 | 5% |
| IR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen | 1 | 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 | 61,997 | 49,468 | 3,121 | 5,756 | — |
| FY2016 | 61,273 | 46,573 | 3,458 | 6,848 | -1% |
| FY2017 | 61,839 | 47,461 | 3,945 | 6,716 | +1% |
| FY2018 | 68,950 | 52,834 | 4,472 | 7,838 | +11% |
| FY2019 | 66,331 | 47,364 | 5,175 | 9,833 | -4% |
| FY2020 | 35,550 | 22,844 | 2,533 | 8,419 | -46% |
| FY2021 | 13,089 | 1,286 | 2,478 | 8,030 | -63% |
| FY2022 | 49,733 | 25,791 | 4,562 | 14,605 | +280% |
| FY2023 | 80,841 | 52,329 | 5,205 | 17,789 | +63% |
| FY2024 | 76,304 | 45,955 | 4,976 | 19,904 | -6% |
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: South Africa. 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 South Africa | Share of all selectees | All selectees |
|---|---|---|---|
| DV-2016 | 535 | 0.6% | 91,563 |
| DV-2017 | 427 | 0.5% | 83,910 |
| DV-2018 | 500 | 0.4% | 115,968 |
| DV-2019 | 454 | 0.5% | 87,610 |
| DV-2020 | 162 | 0.2% | 83,884 |
| DV-2021 | 510 | 0.4% | 132,404 |
| DV-2022 | 497 | 0.4% | 119,021 |
| DV-2023 | 222 | 0.2% | 119,262 |
| DV-2024 | 199 | 0.1% | 142,947 |
| DV-2025 | 163 | 0.1% | 131,060 |
| DV-2026 | 187 | 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 South Africa
- Cape Town: 1,159 nonimmigrant visas issued in Sep 2025, to applicants of all nationalities
- Durban: 935 nonimmigrant visas issued in Sep 2025, to applicants of all nationalities
- Johannesburg: 2,053 nonimmigrant visas issued in Sep 2025, to applicants of all nationalities
- Pretoria: 0 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 South Africa?
The State Department's adjusted refusal rate for B (business and tourist) visas was 11.66% 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 South Africa last year?
76,304 nonimmigrant visas in FY2024, Report of the Visa Office, the Department's final annual figure. In September 2025, the latest monthly report, 4,308 were issued.
How does September 2025 compare with a year earlier for South Africa?
4,308 nonimmigrant visas, down 27% on September 2024 (5,888). Months are compared one to one; the Department says its monthly reports should not be added together.
Which visa classes do nationals of South Africa receive most?
B1/B2 (45,638), H2A (14,694), C1/D (4,491), J1 (3,478) and H2B (2,310) in FY2024, Report of the Visa Office.
How many DV lottery selectees did South Africa have?
187 for DV-2026, 0.1% of all selectees. Earlier years: DV-2022 497, DV-2023 222, DV-2024 199, DV-2025 163. Being selected is not a visa; the Department selects more entrants than there are visas available.
Where do nationals of South Africa apply?
Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria are the U.S. posts in South Africa. 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.