Consulate Report

Months › March 2019

March 2019 · all posts · fiscal year 2019

U.S. visa issuances in March 2019

222 posts in the month's tables · nonimmigrant issuances +25% on Feb 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 784,192 nonimmigrant visas in March 2019, about the same as the 628,837 of the previous month and -4% against the same month a year earlier (819,645).

37,618 immigrant visas were issued in the month, against 46,706 a year earlier.

The largest posts were Mexico City (53,467), Monterrey (35,128) and Shanghai (33,128); 222 posts appear in the month's tables.

B1/B2 at 63.4%, BBBCC at 11.7% and J1 at 4.1% made up the largest shares of the month's nonimmigrant issuances.

784,192nonimmigrant visas-4% vs Mar 2018
37,618immigrant visas-19% vs a year earlier
+25%vs Feb 2019628,837 then
63.4%share of B1/B2

← February 2019April 2019 →

Worldwide nonimmigrant issuances, 24 months to Mar 2019

0454,255908,509VisitorsStudents and exchange visitorsTemporary workersDiplomatic, official and international organisationTransit and crewOther nonimmigrant classesApr 2017Jul 2017Oct 2017Jan 2018Apr 2018Jul 2018Oct 2018Jan 2019Apr 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)Mar 2019: 784,192 (Visitors 598,448, Students and exchange visitors 44,475, Temporary workers 93,916, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 16,372, Transit and crew 26,911, Other nonimmigrant classes 4,070)
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 Mar 2019

PostCountryNonimmigrantImmigrantvs prior monthvs year earlier
Mexico CityMexico53,4670+18%+24%
MonterreyMexico35,1280+71%+9%
ShanghaiChina33,1280+76%-18%
BeijingChina26,2250+76%-26%
GuangzhouChina25,0871,674+125%-7%
Sao PauloBrazil22,4920-3%-30%
MumbaiIndia22,4861,943+15%-15%
ChennaiIndia20,8230+19%-14%
BogotaColombia20,054431+8%+5%
ManilaPhilippines19,1232,219+7%-1%
Buenos AiresArgentina18,67440-4%-43%
New DelhiIndia15,90984+19%+11%
LondonUnited Kingdom15,701292+34%+33%
Tel AvivIsrael13,6430+2%-15%
GuadalajaraMexico13,3360-1%-17%
HyderabadIndia13,20600%-6%
TijuanaMexico10,8710+13%+15%
LimaPeru10,417451+6%+49%
ChengduChina9,4140+102%-14%
WarsawPoland9,222232+93%-2%
KingstonJamaica9,148874+89%+11%
Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam9,0352,124+128%+10%
Santo DomingoDominican Republic8,9553,322+28%-31%
Rio de JaneiroBrazil8,824263-12%-27%
Hong KongHong Kong7,70284+48%+4%

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

PostFeb 2019Mar 2019Change
Budapest3261,168+258%
Hanoi1,1263,106+176%
Vilnius348865+149%
Ho Chi Minh City3,9639,035+128%
Guangzhou11,14725,087+125%
Shenyang2,2695,008+121%
Krakow2,2444,908+119%
Sofia1,6523,559+115%

Largest falls

PostFeb 2019Mar 2019Change
Guayaquil9,7376,786-30%
Lagos5,6303,985-29%
Brasilia6,1355,033-18%
Jerusalem2,2921,960-14%
Yekaterinburg1,8541,592-14%
Baghdad321279-13%
Panama City4,0863,573-13%
Perth407354-13%

Visa classes in Mar 2019

Nonimmigrant

ClassIssuedShare
B1/B2 Temporary visitor for business and pleasure496,86863.4%
BBBCC Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card91,37511.7%
J1 Exchange visitor31,8784.1%
C1/D Combined transit and crewmember visa25,6323.3%
H2A Temporary worker performing agricultural service22,3742.9%
H2B Temporary worker performing other services20,5312.6%
H1B Temporary worker of distinguished merit and abil13,2331.7%
A2 Other foreign government official or employee, o9,1631.2%
H4 Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-39,1631.2%
F1 Student in an academic or language training prog8,1971%
L1 Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, 6,2660.8%
L2 Spouse or child of intracompany transferee6,2070.8%
BBBCV Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card (Li3,9160.5%
E2 Treaty investor, spouse or child3,8360.5%
K1 Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen3,4060.4%

Immigrant

ClassIssuedShare
IR5 Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age5,70915.2%
IR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen5,11513.6%
IR2 Child of U.S. citizen2,8677.6%
CR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status)2,2335.9%
FX1 Immigrant visa class FX1 (no description in the 1,9915.3%
FX2 Immigrant visa class FX2 (no description in the 1,6744.4%
DV1 Immigrant visa class DV1 (no description in the 1,6054.3%
F43 Immigrant visa class F43 (no description in the 1,5424.1%
F41 Immigrant visa class F41 (no description in the 1,1703.1%
F11 Immigrant visa class F11 (no description in the 9872.6%
DV3 Immigrant visa class DV3 (no description in the 9732.6%
F24 Immigrant visa class F24 (no description in the 9532.5%

Mar in other years

MonthNonimmigrantImmigrant
Mar 2019784,19237,618
Mar 2020400,50324,383
Mar 2021260,49321,670
Mar 2022678,58647,555
Mar 20231,109,07964,714
Mar 2024962,73153,633
Mar 20251,006,22751,574

Questions and answers

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

784,192 nonimmigrant visas and 37,618 immigrant visas, according to the State Department's monthly tables, which the Department describes as preliminary.

Which posts issued the most visas in March 2019?

Mexico City (53,467), Monterrey (35,128), Shanghai (33,128), Beijing (26,225) and Guangzhou (25,087).

Which posts changed most in March 2019?

Among posts with at least 200 issuances in both months, the largest rises on the previous month were Budapest (+258%), Hanoi (+176%) and Vilnius (+149%) and the largest falls Guayaquil (-30%), Lagos (-29%) and Brasilia (-18%).

Where does this data come from?

The State Department's monthly nonimmigrant and immigrant visa issuance tables by post and visa class for March 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 March 2019, public domain. Data through 30 Sep 2025. See corrections.