Consulate Report

Months › May 2019

May 2019 · all posts · fiscal year 2019

U.S. visa issuances in May 2019

221 posts in the month's tables · nonimmigrant issuances +6% on Apr 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 857,267 nonimmigrant visas in May 2019, about the same as the 808,859 of the previous month and -4% against the same month a year earlier (888,450).

39,393 immigrant visas were issued in the month, against 45,036 a year earlier.

The largest posts were Mexico City (50,635), Shanghai (43,523) and Beijing (39,090); 221 posts appear in the month's tables.

B1/B2 at 60.3%, BBBCC at 9.7% and J1 at 7.3% made up the largest shares of the month's nonimmigrant issuances.

857,267nonimmigrant visas-4% vs May 2018
39,393immigrant visas-13% vs a year earlier
+6%vs Apr 2019808,859 then
60.3%share of B1/B2

← April 2019June 2019 →

Worldwide nonimmigrant issuances, 24 months to May 2019

0454,255908,509VisitorsStudents and exchange visitorsTemporary workersDiplomatic, official and international organisationTransit and crewOther nonimmigrant classesJun 2017Sep 2017Dec 2017Mar 2018Jun 2018Sep 2018Dec 2018Mar 2019Jun 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)Apr 2019: 808,859 (Visitors 594,891, Students and exchange visitors 76,459, Temporary workers 93,185, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 14,751, Transit and crew 25,982, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,591)May 2019: 857,267 (Visitors 611,197, Students and exchange visitors 116,438, Temporary workers 84,354, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 16,543, Transit and crew 24,466, Other nonimmigrant classes 4,269)
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 May 2019

PostCountryNonimmigrantImmigrantvs prior monthvs year earlier
Mexico CityMexico50,6350+11%+5%
ShanghaiChina43,5230+26%-5%
BeijingChina39,0900+24%-8%
GuangzhouChina33,4002,183+26%-18%
Sao PauloBrazil31,6610+11%+14%
MonterreyMexico26,6020-24%-13%
Buenos AiresArgentina21,63550+6%-31%
MumbaiIndia20,6391,852-11%-14%
BogotaColombia19,869772-1%-21%
ChennaiIndia19,5770+44%-1%
ManilaPhilippines17,9652,268+5%-6%
New DelhiIndia17,63658+21%+10%
LondonUnited Kingdom15,490322+2%-1%
Tel AvivIsrael14,5700+18%-15%
GuadalajaraMexico14,5580-4%0%
ChengduChina12,5040+8%-17%
HyderabadIndia12,2780+15%-19%
Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam10,8042,896+3%+7%
TijuanaMexico10,5840-13%+9%
Rio de JaneiroBrazil10,161342-1%0%
WarsawPoland9,927278+8%+36%
Hong KongHong Kong9,721173+29%+5%
Santo DomingoDominican Republic9,4193,184-35%-20%
LimaPeru9,146367+6%+21%
SeoulSouth Korea8,575535+64%+7%

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

PostApr 2019May 2019Change
Oslo5571,299+133%
Port-au-Prince1,3333,088+132%
Berlin1,0712,184+104%
Perth372746+101%
Belmopan347673+94%
Harare394734+86%
Sarajevo487898+84%
Nassau1,3132,333+78%

Largest falls

PostApr 2019May 2019Change
Chiang Mai620350-44%
Almaty1,481871-41%
Managua976571-41%
Sofia2,9151,757-40%
Durban775470-39%
Panama City3,6992,318-37%
Santo Domingo14,4949,419-35%
Matamoros5,8643,908-33%

Visa classes in May 2019

Nonimmigrant

ClassIssuedShare
B1/B2 Temporary visitor for business and pleasure516,88960.3%
BBBCC Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card82,9999.7%
J1 Exchange visitor62,4987.3%
F1 Student in an academic or language training prog46,8715.5%
H2A Temporary worker performing agricultural service26,4303.1%
C1/D Combined transit and crewmember visa22,9062.7%
H1B Temporary worker of distinguished merit and abil13,6781.6%
H4 Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-310,2691.2%
A2 Other foreign government official or employee, o10,0041.2%
H2B Temporary worker performing other services6,3390.7%
L2 Spouse or child of intracompany transferee6,1730.7%
L1 Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, 6,1630.7%
B1 Temporary visitor for business4,0320.5%
BBBCV Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card (Li3,9180.5%
K1 Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen3,5460.4%

Immigrant

ClassIssuedShare
IR5 Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age5,73214.6%
IR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen4,65411.8%
CR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status)2,7927.1%
IR2 Child of U.S. citizen2,5876.6%
F43 Immigrant visa class F43 (no description in the 2,1945.6%
DV1 Immigrant visa class DV1 (no description in the 2,1715.5%
FX1 Immigrant visa class FX1 (no description in the 1,8194.6%
F41 Immigrant visa class F41 (no description in the 1,7324.4%
F42 Immigrant visa class F42 (no description in the 1,2663.2%
DV3 Immigrant visa class DV3 (no description in the 1,2563.2%
FX2 Immigrant visa class FX2 (no description in the 1,2153.1%
F24 Immigrant visa class F24 (no description in the 1,0682.7%

May in other years

MonthNonimmigrantImmigrant
May 2019857,26739,393
May 202040,939697
May 2021247,22226,204
May 2022668,83542,096
May 20231,013,28357,068
May 20241,070,65658,778
May 2025897,93746,751

Questions and answers

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

857,267 nonimmigrant visas and 39,393 immigrant visas, according to the State Department's monthly tables, which the Department describes as preliminary.

Which posts issued the most visas in May 2019?

Mexico City (50,635), Shanghai (43,523), Beijing (39,090), Guangzhou (33,400) and Sao Paulo (31,661).

Which posts changed most in May 2019?

Among posts with at least 200 issuances in both months, the largest rises on the previous month were Oslo (+133%), Port-au-Prince (+132%) and Berlin (+104%) and the largest falls Chiang Mai (-44%), Almaty (-41%) and Managua (-41%).

Where does this data come from?

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