Consulate Report

Months › February 2019

February 2019 · all posts · fiscal year 2019

U.S. visa issuances in February 2019

223 posts in the month's tables · nonimmigrant issuances -8% on Jan 2019

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.

U.S. posts issued 628,837 nonimmigrant visas in February 2019, about the same as the 685,917 of the previous month and +2% against the same month a year earlier (617,797).

34,710 immigrant visas were issued in the month, against 47,715 a year earlier.

The largest posts were Mexico City (45,444), Sao Paulo (23,074) and Monterrey (20,515); 223 posts appear in the month's tables.

B1/B2 at 64.1%, BBBCC at 13.4% and C1/D at 3.7% made up the largest shares of the month's nonimmigrant issuances.

628,837nonimmigrant visas+2% vs Feb 2018
34,710immigrant visas-27% vs a year earlier
-8%vs Jan 2019685,917 then
64.1%share of B1/B2

← January 2019March 2019 →

Worldwide nonimmigrant issuances, 24 months to Feb 2019

0454,255908,509VisitorsStudents and exchange visitorsTemporary workersDiplomatic, official and international organisationTransit and crewOther nonimmigrant classesMar 2017Jun 2017Sep 2017Dec 2017Mar 2018Jun 2018Sep 2018Dec 2018Mar 2017: 907,166 (Visitors 709,053, Students and exchange visitors 47,661, Temporary workers 97,969, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 17,285, Transit and crew 31,491, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,707)Apr 2017: 735,004 (Visitors 544,899, Students and exchange visitors 67,349, Temporary workers 81,748, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 15,433, Transit and crew 23,193, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,382)May 2017: 883,999 (Visitors 650,636, Students and exchange visitors 117,122, Temporary workers 71,692, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 16,174, Transit and crew 25,781, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,594)Jun 2017: 908,509 (Visitors 650,883, Students and exchange visitors 138,837, Temporary workers 74,918, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 15,708, Transit and crew 25,530, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,633)Jul 2017: 884,951 (Visitors 633,032, Students and exchange visitors 134,978, Temporary workers 72,178, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 15,332, Transit and crew 26,162, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,269)Aug 2017: 832,637 (Visitors 626,202, Students and exchange visitors 80,087, Temporary workers 79,401, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 16,567, Transit and crew 26,885, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,495)Sep 2017: 652,056 (Visitors 518,262, Students and exchange visitors 28,629, Temporary workers 58,483, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 16,746, Transit and crew 26,821, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,115)Oct 2017: 636,534 (Visitors 511,561, Students and exchange visitors 25,499, Temporary workers 56,884, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 14,148, Transit and crew 25,715, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,727)Nov 2017: 635,861 (Visitors 495,471, Students and exchange visitors 37,860, Temporary workers 64,831, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 11,418, Transit and crew 24,201, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,080)Dec 2017: 650,100 (Visitors 483,453, Students and exchange visitors 55,662, Temporary workers 76,688, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 9,157, Transit and crew 23,092, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,048)Jan 2018: 709,408 (Visitors 555,007, Students and exchange visitors 38,047, Temporary workers 75,810, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 11,718, Transit and crew 27,210, Other nonimmigrant classes 1,616)Feb 2018: 617,797 (Visitors 484,183, Students and exchange visitors 24,459, Temporary workers 70,236, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 12,231, Transit and crew 24,965, Other nonimmigrant classes 1,723)Mar 2018: 819,645 (Visitors 643,876, Students and exchange visitors 44,798, Temporary workers 85,250, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 15,922, Transit and crew 27,280, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,519)Apr 2018: 859,147 (Visitors 643,408, Students and exchange visitors 70,905, Temporary workers 101,082, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 16,029, Transit and crew 24,786, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,937)May 2018: 888,450 (Visitors 650,161, Students and exchange visitors 112,513, Temporary workers 80,051, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 17,199, Transit and crew 25,225, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,301)Jun 2018: 882,279 (Visitors 624,514, Students and exchange visitors 128,895, Temporary workers 85,006, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 16,073, Transit and crew 24,665, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,126)Jul 2018: 884,357 (Visitors 613,653, Students and exchange visitors 141,304, Temporary workers 84,726, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 15,617, Transit and crew 26,095, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,962)Aug 2018: 824,176 (Visitors 618,184, Students and exchange visitors 75,488, Temporary workers 83,785, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 15,715, Transit and crew 27,830, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,174)Sep 2018: 620,175 (Visitors 488,328, Students and exchange visitors 26,025, Temporary workers 60,630, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 18,270, Transit and crew 24,130, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,792)Oct 2018: 699,265 (Visitors 564,123, Students and exchange visitors 26,875, Temporary workers 61,230, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 14,216, Transit and crew 29,744, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,077)Nov 2018: 634,246 (Visitors 489,433, Students and exchange visitors 38,840, Temporary workers 67,576, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 11,279, Transit and crew 24,329, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,789)Dec 2018: 605,652 (Visitors 444,233, Students and exchange visitors 52,715, Temporary workers 74,956, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 8,946, Transit and crew 22,110, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,692)Jan 2019: 685,917 (Visitors 528,521, Students and exchange visitors 36,895, Temporary workers 80,587, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 11,828, Transit and crew 25,092, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,994)Feb 2019: 628,837 (Visitors 495,945, Students and exchange visitors 23,880, Temporary workers 69,287, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 11,728, Transit and crew 24,611, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,386)
Nonimmigrant visas issued worldwide by month, stacked by broad class group.

VisitorsStudents and exchange visitorsTemporary workersDiplomatic, official and international organisationTransit and crewOther nonimmigrant classes

Largest posts in Feb 2019

PostCountryNonimmigrantImmigrantvs prior monthvs year earlier
Mexico CityMexico45,4440+1%+30%
Sao PauloBrazil23,0740-6%+8%
MonterreyMexico20,5150-8%-4%
MumbaiIndia19,5951,687-4%-15%
Buenos AiresArgentina19,45470+11%-21%
ShanghaiChina18,8460-39%-16%
BogotaColombia18,633483+14%+2%
ManilaPhilippines17,8951,917+3%+7%
ChennaiIndia17,4620-2%-4%
BeijingChina14,8620-54%-20%
GuadalajaraMexico13,4600-15%+5%
New DelhiIndia13,39588-9%-1%
Tel AvivIsrael13,3200-8%-5%
HyderabadIndia13,1590+11%-1%
LondonUnited Kingdom11,730293+10%+13%
GuangzhouChina11,1471,579-52%-7%
Rio de JaneiroBrazil9,981313-11%+12%
LimaPeru9,838343+12%+44%
GuayaquilEcuador9,737483+11%+32%
TijuanaMexico9,6350-6%+25%
QuitoEcuador8,2250+5%+38%
Santo DomingoDominican Republic6,9833,300-1%-31%
MoscowRussia6,814235+64%+74%
TorontoCanada6,1680-9%+31%
BrasiliaBrazil6,1350+13%+29%

Biggest movers on the previous month

Posts with at least 200 nonimmigrant issuances in both months. A move in the count is a move in visas issued; it does not by itself say anything about demand or approval rates.

Largest rises

PostJan 2019Feb 2019Change
Skopje325542+67%
Moscow4,1656,814+64%
Johannesburg2,1563,466+61%
Tbilisi455718+58%
Cape Town9321,420+52%
Casablanca9361,337+43%
Kinshasa227323+42%
Dhaka1,4141,997+41%

Largest falls

PostJan 2019Feb 2019Change
Berlin831365-56%
Shenyang5,2072,269-56%
Beijing32,10514,862-54%
Guangzhou23,42011,147-52%
Ho Chi Minh City8,1223,963-51%
Hanoi2,2181,126-49%
Chengdu8,1924,669-43%
Shanghai31,02118,846-39%

Visa classes in Feb 2019

Nonimmigrant

ClassIssuedShare
B1/B2 Temporary visitor for business and pleasure403,28764.1%
BBBCC Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card84,07013.4%
C1/D Combined transit and crewmember visa23,1953.7%
H1B Temporary worker of distinguished merit and abil14,9682.4%
H2A Temporary worker performing agricultural service14,7372.3%
J1 Exchange visitor13,7852.2%
H4 Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-39,5201.5%
A2 Other foreign government official or employee, o6,7121.1%
F1 Student in an academic or language training prog6,4611%
H2B Temporary worker performing other services5,5530.9%
L1 Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, 5,1540.8%
L2 Spouse or child of intracompany transferee4,9550.8%
E2 Treaty investor, spouse or child3,1330.5%
BBBCV Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card (Li3,0110.5%
B1 Temporary visitor for business2,8850.5%

Immigrant

ClassIssuedShare
IR5 Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age5,02014.5%
IR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen4,46612.9%
IR2 Child of U.S. citizen2,7057.8%
CR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status)2,3656.8%
FX1 Immigrant visa class FX1 (no description in the 2,0115.8%
FX2 Immigrant visa class FX2 (no description in the 1,8265.3%
F43 Immigrant visa class F43 (no description in the 1,3994%
DV1 Immigrant visa class DV1 (no description in the 1,2253.5%
F41 Immigrant visa class F41 (no description in the 1,1243.2%
F11 Immigrant visa class F11 (no description in the 9762.8%
F24 Immigrant visa class F24 (no description in the 8162.4%
F12 Immigrant visa class F12 (no description in the 7892.3%

Feb in other years

MonthNonimmigrantImmigrant
Feb 2019628,83734,710
Feb 2020578,89337,658
Feb 2021168,36113,202
Feb 2022484,57135,942
Feb 2023853,57246,951
Feb 2024861,38351,563
Feb 2025914,98951,058

Questions and answers

How many U.S. visas were issued in February 2019?

628,837 nonimmigrant visas and 34,710 immigrant visas, according to the State Department's monthly tables, which the Department describes as preliminary.

Which posts issued the most visas in February 2019?

Mexico City (45,444), Sao Paulo (23,074), Monterrey (20,515), Mumbai (19,595) and Buenos Aires (19,454).

Which posts changed most in February 2019?

Among posts with at least 200 issuances in both months, the largest rises on the previous month were Skopje (+67%), Moscow (+64%) and Johannesburg (+61%) and the largest falls Berlin (-56%), Shenyang (-56%) and Beijing (-54%).

Where does this data come from?

The State Department's monthly nonimmigrant and immigrant visa issuance tables by post and visa class for February 2019. Data through 30 Sep 2025.

Provenance

Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Monthly Nonimmigrant and Immigrant Visa Issuances by Post and Visa Class for February 2019, public domain. Data through 30 Sep 2025. See corrections.