Consulate Report

Months › September 2021

September 2021 · all posts · fiscal year 2021

U.S. visa issuances in September 2021

217 posts in the month's tables · nonimmigrant issuances -13% on Aug 2021

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 290,312 nonimmigrant visas in September 2021, about the same as the 333,506 of the previous month and +161% against the same month a year earlier (111,034).

47,454 immigrant visas were issued in the month, against 14,894 a year earlier.

The largest posts were Mexico City (34,958), Monterrey (33,613) and New Delhi (10,533); 217 posts appear in the month's tables.

B1/B2 at 34.1%, BBBCC at 20.6% and H2A at 6.3% made up the largest shares of the month's nonimmigrant issuances.

290,312nonimmigrant visas+161% vs Sep 2020
47,454immigrant visas+219% vs a year earlier
-13%vs Aug 2021333,506 then
34.1%share of B1/B2

← August 2021October 2021 →

Worldwide nonimmigrant issuances, 24 months to Sep 2021

0355,234710,468VisitorsStudents and exchange visitorsTemporary workersDiplomatic, official and international organisationTransit and crewOther nonimmigrant classesOct 2019Jan 2020Apr 2020Jul 2020Oct 2020Jan 2021Apr 2021Jul 2021Oct 2019: 710,468 (Visitors 562,206, Students and exchange visitors 27,405, Temporary workers 72,570, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 15,205, Transit and crew 29,023, Other nonimmigrant classes 4,059)Nov 2019: 613,287 (Visitors 465,801, Students and exchange visitors 38,705, Temporary workers 70,801, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 10,739, Transit and crew 23,903, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,338)Dec 2019: 650,760 (Visitors 465,750, Students and exchange visitors 56,480, Temporary workers 92,691, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 8,661, Transit and crew 23,746, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,432)Jan 2020: 670,211 (Visitors 508,665, Students and exchange visitors 34,569, Temporary workers 85,978, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 10,848, Transit and crew 26,940, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,211)Feb 2020: 578,893 (Visitors 441,686, Students and exchange visitors 23,108, Temporary workers 72,329, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 12,548, Transit and crew 26,150, Other nonimmigrant classes 3,072)Mar 2020: 400,503 (Visitors 287,273, Students and exchange visitors 18,321, Temporary workers 69,393, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 7,003, Transit and crew 16,557, Other nonimmigrant classes 1,956)Apr 2020: 46,855 (Visitors 3,540, Students and exchange visitors 276, Temporary workers 41,308, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 754, Transit and crew 882, Other nonimmigrant classes 95)May 2020: 40,939 (Visitors 4,917, Students and exchange visitors 970, Temporary workers 31,275, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 1,578, Transit and crew 2,108, Other nonimmigrant classes 91)Jun 2020: 46,435 (Visitors 10,268, Students and exchange visitors 2,136, Temporary workers 26,064, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 4,368, Transit and crew 3,384, Other nonimmigrant classes 215)Jul 2020: 57,917 (Visitors 15,521, Students and exchange visitors 14,043, Temporary workers 16,819, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 5,091, Transit and crew 6,120, Other nonimmigrant classes 323)Aug 2020: 94,416 (Visitors 35,772, Students and exchange visitors 23,915, Temporary workers 23,883, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 4,625, Transit and crew 5,882, Other nonimmigrant classes 339)Sep 2020: 111,034 (Visitors 53,534, Students and exchange visitors 10,399, Temporary workers 32,560, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 5,549, Transit and crew 8,478, Other nonimmigrant classes 514)Oct 2020: 124,078 (Visitors 69,447, Students and exchange visitors 11,457, Temporary workers 25,855, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 5,586, Transit and crew 10,867, Other nonimmigrant classes 866)Nov 2020: 124,500 (Visitors 62,078, Students and exchange visitors 16,842, Temporary workers 28,480, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 4,778, Transit and crew 11,055, Other nonimmigrant classes 1,267)Dec 2020: 157,225 (Visitors 76,210, Students and exchange visitors 31,006, Temporary workers 31,941, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 5,322, Transit and crew 11,316, Other nonimmigrant classes 1,430)Jan 2021: 138,544 (Visitors 71,119, Students and exchange visitors 14,974, Temporary workers 35,077, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 4,919, Transit and crew 10,887, Other nonimmigrant classes 1,568)Feb 2021: 168,361 (Visitors 88,928, Students and exchange visitors 9,102, Temporary workers 51,400, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 4,737, Transit and crew 12,593, Other nonimmigrant classes 1,601)Mar 2021: 260,493 (Visitors 126,551, Students and exchange visitors 13,488, Temporary workers 94,184, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 6,726, Transit and crew 17,658, Other nonimmigrant classes 1,886)Apr 2021: 247,833 (Visitors 120,158, Students and exchange visitors 20,278, Temporary workers 84,406, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 6,793, Transit and crew 14,313, Other nonimmigrant classes 1,885)May 2021: 247,222 (Visitors 112,056, Students and exchange visitors 59,073, Temporary workers 54,512, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 7,945, Transit and crew 11,534, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,102)Jun 2021: 349,285 (Visitors 147,861, Students and exchange visitors 113,361, Temporary workers 59,011, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 10,384, Transit and crew 15,933, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,735)Jul 2021: 355,388 (Visitors 145,725, Students and exchange visitors 131,533, Temporary workers 50,653, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 9,877, Transit and crew 14,762, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,838)Aug 2021: 333,506 (Visitors 161,826, Students and exchange visitors 85,704, Temporary workers 57,790, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 10,898, Transit and crew 14,913, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,375)Sep 2021: 290,312 (Visitors 164,155, Students and exchange visitors 25,047, Temporary workers 66,218, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 13,309, Transit and crew 18,638, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,945)
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 Sep 2021

PostCountryNonimmigrantImmigrantvs prior monthvs year earlier
Mexico CityMexico34,9581+56%+294%
MonterreyMexico33,6130-2%+54%
New DelhiIndia10,533510%+359%
TijuanaMexico10,4190-24%+45%
QuitoEcuador9,0570+18%+187%
BogotaColombia8,2611,356-26%+1965%
ManilaPhilippines7,870913+15%+78%
Buenos AiresArgentina7,109108+9%+3743%
Santo DomingoDominican Republic5,9553,155-29%+110%
LimaPeru5,897507-5%+2475%
JakartaIndonesia5,774110+8%+2624%
Tel AvivIsrael5,2160-46%+451%
Nuevo LaredoMexico3,9720+3%+64%
MumbaiIndia3,797874-31%+102%
KingstonJamaica3,702358-12%+289%
Ciudad JuarezMexico3,4068,269+21%+17%
HermosilloMexico3,2890-34%+32%
ChennaiIndia3,2810-43%+161%
LondonUnited Kingdom3,118480-5%+197%
TokyoJapan2,750225-31%+169%
San JoseCosta Rica2,69669-5%+178%
Guatemala CityGuatemala2,608836+1%+1699%
GuadalajaraMexico2,5850-76%-42%
TegucigalpaHonduras2,550761-22%+111%
SeoulSouth Korea2,371403-57%+74%

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

PostAug 2021Sep 2021Change
Kuwait City1,2351,974+60%
Cairo7051,109+57%
Mexico City22,37134,958+56%
Ottawa339520+53%
Toronto8881,340+51%
Port-au-Prince675985+46%
Port of Spain1,0091,437+42%
Manama521688+32%

Largest falls

PostAug 2021Sep 2021Change
Beijing4,9111,160-76%
Guadalajara10,5732,585-76%
Shanghai3,3721,034-69%
Madrid4,0061,310-67%
Guangzhou2,272783-66%
Oslo785298-62%
Prague553208-62%
Berlin1,630694-57%

Visa classes in Sep 2021

Nonimmigrant

ClassIssuedShare
B1/B2 Temporary visitor for business and pleasure99,12734.1%
BBBCC Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card59,81820.6%
H2A Temporary worker performing agricultural service18,1686.3%
C1/D Combined transit and crewmember visa17,8886.2%
F1 Student in an academic or language training prog12,2814.2%
J1 Exchange visitor8,8363%
H1B Temporary worker of distinguished merit and abil8,5582.9%
H4 Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-38,4252.9%
H2B Temporary worker performing other services8,3302.9%
A2 Other foreign government official or employee, o7,1562.5%
L2 Spouse or child of intracompany transferee4,6311.6%
L1 Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, 4,3591.5%
BBBCV Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card (Li3,1541.1%
E2 Treaty investor, spouse or child3,1401.1%
TN NAFTA professional3,1021.1%

Immigrant

ClassIssuedShare
DV Diversity immigrant (DV1, DV2, DV3)8,77018.5%
IR5 Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age7,76416.4%
IR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen7,59816%
FX Family second preference, exempt from country li5,98412.6%
IR2 Child of U.S. citizen4,1288.7%
F4 Family fourth preference: brother or sister of U3,9938.4%
F3 Family third preference: married son or daughter1,5823.3%
F1 Family first preference: unmarried son or daught1,5653.3%
F2B Family second preference (2B): unmarried son or 1,4933.1%
CR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status)1,1732.5%
E3 Employment third preference: skilled worker or p8721.8%
SB1 Returning resident4531%

Sep in other years

MonthNonimmigrantImmigrant
Sep 2019646,93839,473
Sep 2020111,03414,894
Sep 2021290,31247,454
Sep 2022718,17557,186
Sep 2023849,40040,799
Sep 2024925,15757,983
Sep 2025823,55745,966

Questions and answers

How many U.S. visas were issued in September 2021?

290,312 nonimmigrant visas and 47,454 immigrant visas, according to the State Department's monthly tables, which the Department describes as preliminary.

Which posts issued the most visas in September 2021?

Mexico City (34,958), Monterrey (33,613), New Delhi (10,533), Tijuana (10,419) and Quito (9,057).

Which posts changed most in September 2021?

Among posts with at least 200 issuances in both months, the largest rises on the previous month were Kuwait City (+60%), Cairo (+57%) and Mexico City (+56%) and the largest falls Beijing (-76%), Guadalajara (-76%) and Shanghai (-69%).

Where does this data come from?

The State Department's monthly nonimmigrant and immigrant visa issuance tables by post and visa class for September 2021. 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 September 2021, public domain. Data through 30 Sep 2025. See corrections.