Nationalities › Switzerland
Switzerland · Europe
U.S. visas issued to nationals of Switzerland
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 Switzerland were issued 686 U.S. nonimmigrant visas in September 2025, close to September 2024 (634, +8%), the 80th largest nationality of 203 in the month's table.
For the full fiscal year the Department's Report of the Visa Office lists 10,034 nonimmigrant visas issued to nationals of Switzerland in FY2024, 0.1% of the 10,969,936 issued worldwide and the 88th largest nationality of 197. The previous year's figure was 9,834 (FY2023).
The largest classes in September 2025 were B1/B2 (temporary visitor for business and pleasure) with 251, C1/D (combined transit and crewmember visa) with 75 and F1 (student in an academic or language training program) with 73. 8 immigrant visas were issued to applicants chargeable to Switzerland in the same month, led by IR1 (6) and CR1 (1).
The Department's adjusted refusal rate for B (visitor) visa applicants who are nationals of Switzerland was 5.82% in FY2025, below the Europe median of 15.20%; it was 5.39% 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, 22 entrants chargeable to Switzerland were selected for DV-2026, 0% of all selectees that year; the count was 42 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 Switzerland (Bern) issued 1,904 nonimmigrant visas in September 2025, to applicants of all nationalities.
Nonimmigrant issuances by month
Compared with the Europe region and the world
| Measure | Switzerland | Europe (55 nationalities) | All nationalities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonimmigrant visas, FY2024, Report of the Visa Office | 10,034 | 1,012,314 | 10,969,936 |
| Median nationality, FY2024, Report of the Visa Office | — | 8,239 | 7,901 |
| Nonimmigrant visas, Sep 2025 | 686 | 68,373 | 823,557 |
| Change on Sep 2024 | +8% | — | -11% |
| Immigrant visas, Sep 2025 | 8 | — | 45,966 |
| B-visa adjusted refusal rate, FY2025 | 5.82% | 15.20% | 31.28% |
| DV-2026 selectees | 22 | — | 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 | 4,271 | 42.6% |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 1,404 | 14% |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 1,115 | 11.1% |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 993 | 9.9% |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 352 | 3.5% |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 286 | 2.9% |
| E2 | Treaty investor, spouse or child | 218 | 2.2% |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 177 | 1.8% |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 167 | 1.7% |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 139 | 1.4% |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 103 | 1% |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 99 | 1% |
| M1 | Vocational student and other nonacademic student | 98 | 1% |
| P1 | Internationally recognized athlete or member of internationally recognized entertainment group | 98 | 1% |
| I | Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children | 94 | 0.9% |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 94 | 0.9% |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 52 | 0.5% |
| O3 | Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2 | 48 | 0.5% |
| O2 | Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O-1 | 44 | 0.4% |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 35 | 0.3% |
| G1 | Principal resident representative of recognized foreign government to international organization, staff, or immediate family | 29 | 0.3% |
| A1 | Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat or consular officer, or immediate family | 24 | 0.2% |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 18 | 0.2% |
| C3 | Foreign government official, immediate family, attendant, servant or personal employee, in transit | 12 | 0.1% |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 12 | 0.1% |
| B2 | Temporary visitor for pleasure | 11 | 0.1% |
| R1 | Alien in a religious occupation | 8 | 0.1% |
| NATO2 | Other representative of member state to NATO and immediate family; dependents of member of a force entering under the NATO agreements; members of such a force if issued visas | 5 | 0% |
| E3D | Spouse or child of Australian specialty occupation professional | 4 | 0% |
| P3 | Artist or entertainer in a culturally unique program | 4 | 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 | 251 | 36.6% |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 75 | 10.9% |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 73 | 10.6% |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 66 | 9.6% |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 33 | 4.8% |
| E2 | Treaty investor, spouse or child | 21 | 3.1% |
| M1 | Vocational student and other nonacademic student | 18 | 2.6% |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 17 | 2.5% |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 17 | 2.5% |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 16 | 2.3% |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 15 | 2.2% |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 13 | 1.9% |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 13 | 1.9% |
| P1 | Internationally recognized athlete or member of internationally recognized entertainment group | 13 | 1.9% |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 8 | 1.2% |
| G1 | Principal resident representative of recognized foreign government to international organization, staff, or immediate family | 7 | 1% |
| I | Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children | 7 | 1% |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 6 | 0.9% |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 4 | 0.6% |
| P4 | Spouse or child of P-1, P-2, or P-3 | 3 | 0.4% |
| O2 | Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O-1 | 2 | 0.3% |
| O3 | Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2 | 2 | 0.3% |
| B2 | Temporary visitor for pleasure | 1 | 0.1% |
| E1 | Treaty trader, spouse or child | 1 | 0.1% |
| E3D | Spouse or child of Australian specialty occupation professional | 1 | 0.1% |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 1 | 0.1% |
| P3 | Artist or entertainer in a culturally unique program | 1 | 0.1% |
| R1 | Alien in a religious occupation | 1 | 0.1% |
Immigrant visa classes, September 2025 (foreign state of chargeability)
| Class | Description (State Department) | Issued | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| IR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen | 6 | 75% |
| CR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status) | 1 | 12.5% |
| GV2 | Spouse of GV1 | 1 | 12.5% |
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 | 11,282 | 2,700 | 5,350 | 1,833 | — |
| FY2016 | 12,549 | 4,326 | 5,059 | 1,632 | +11% |
| FY2017 | 11,630 | 4,084 | 4,453 | 1,646 | -7% |
| FY2018 | 10,823 | 3,537 | 4,129 | 1,629 | -7% |
| FY2019 | 10,327 | 3,354 | 3,775 | 1,701 | -5% |
| FY2020 | 4,682 | 1,792 | 1,415 | 656 | -55% |
| FY2021 | 5,054 | 332 | 2,552 | 858 | +8% |
| FY2022 | 8,799 | 2,405 | 3,516 | 1,489 | +74% |
| FY2023 | 9,834 | 3,851 | 2,840 | 1,346 | +12% |
| FY2024 | 10,034 | 4,381 | 2,732 | 1,302 | +2% |
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: Switzerland. Grey bar: Europe 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 Switzerland | Share of all selectees | All selectees |
|---|---|---|---|
| DV-2016 | 122 | 0.1% | 91,563 |
| DV-2017 | 96 | 0.1% | 83,910 |
| DV-2018 | 85 | 0.1% | 115,968 |
| DV-2019 | 47 | 0.1% | 87,610 |
| DV-2020 | 49 | 0.1% | 83,884 |
| DV-2021 | 48 | 0% | 132,404 |
| DV-2022 | 31 | 0% | 119,021 |
| DV-2023 | 27 | 0% | 119,262 |
| DV-2024 | 30 | 0% | 142,947 |
| DV-2025 | 42 | 0% | 131,060 |
| DV-2026 | 22 | 0% | 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 Switzerland
- Bern: 1,904 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 Switzerland?
The State Department's adjusted refusal rate for B (business and tourist) visas was 5.82% in FY2025 against a Europe median of 15.20%. 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 Switzerland last year?
10,034 nonimmigrant visas in FY2024, Report of the Visa Office, the Department's final annual figure. In September 2025, the latest monthly report, 686 were issued.
How does September 2025 compare with a year earlier for Switzerland?
686 nonimmigrant visas, close to September 2024 (634, +8%). Months are compared one to one; the Department says its monthly reports should not be added together.
Which visa classes do nationals of Switzerland receive most?
B1/B2 (4,271), F1 (1,404), J1 (1,115), C1/D (993) and A2 (352) in FY2024, Report of the Visa Office.
How many DV lottery selectees did Switzerland have?
22 for DV-2026, 0% of all selectees. Earlier years: DV-2022 31, DV-2023 27, DV-2024 30, DV-2025 42. Being selected is not a visa; the Department selects more entrants than there are visas available.
Where do nationals of Switzerland apply?
Bern is the U.S. post in Switzerland. 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.