Consulate Report

Months › October 2021

October 2021 · all posts · fiscal year 2022

U.S. visa issuances in October 2021

215 posts in the month's tables · nonimmigrant issuances +2% on Sep 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 296,442 nonimmigrant visas in October 2021, about the same as the 290,312 of the previous month and +139% against the same month a year earlier (124,078).

36,245 immigrant visas were issued in the month, against 8,687 a year earlier.

The largest posts were Mexico City (33,819), Monterrey (31,662) and Tijuana (10,198); 215 posts appear in the month's tables.

B1/B2 at 37.7%, BBBCC at 20.8% and C1/D at 5.6% made up the largest shares of the month's nonimmigrant issuances.

296,442nonimmigrant visas+139% vs Oct 2020
36,245immigrant visas+317% vs a year earlier
+2%vs Sep 2021290,312 then
37.7%share of B1/B2

← September 2021November 2021 →

Worldwide nonimmigrant issuances, 24 months to Oct 2021

0335,106670,211VisitorsStudents and exchange visitorsTemporary workersDiplomatic, official and international organisationTransit and crewOther nonimmigrant classesNov 2019Feb 2020May 2020Aug 2020Nov 2020Feb 2021May 2021Aug 2021Nov 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)Oct 2021: 296,442 (Visitors 179,611, Students and exchange visitors 25,853, Temporary workers 60,757, Diplomatic, official and international organisation 10,297, Transit and crew 17,114, Other nonimmigrant classes 2,810)
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 Oct 2021

PostCountryNonimmigrantImmigrantvs prior monthvs year earlier
Mexico CityMexico33,8190-3%+213%
MonterreyMexico31,6620-6%+51%
TijuanaMexico10,1980-2%+20%
New DelhiIndia9,65769-8%+329%
BogotaColombia9,6121,060+16%+1526%
Buenos AiresArgentina9,101115+28%+4616%
Tel AvivIsrael8,2280+58%+729%
ManilaPhilippines7,768760-1%+35%
QuitoEcuador7,4450-18%+117%
LimaPeru7,059188+20%+1113%
GuadalajaraMexico6,5750+154%+64%
JakartaIndonesia5,51144-5%+363%
Santo DomingoDominican Republic5,3562,831-10%+75%
Nuevo LaredoMexico4,0340+2%+13%
HermosilloMexico3,7130+13%+81%
SeoulSouth Korea3,649451+54%+107%
ChennaiIndia3,5460+8%+65%
MumbaiIndia3,532890-7%+33%
San JoseCosta Rica3,45869+28%+169%
LondonUnited Kingdom2,975307-5%+305%
BangkokThailand2,684145+16%+263%
IstanbulTurkey2,6110+61%+615%
Guatemala CityGuatemala2,5998010%+1156%
KingstonJamaica2,594299-30%+245%
Kuwait CityKuwait2,58341+31%+1018%

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

PostSep 2021Oct 2021Change
Asuncion220825+275%
Ho Chi Minh City6602,240+239%
Yerevan254777+206%
Guadalajara2,5856,575+154%
Managua339821+142%
Tashkent202420+108%
Jerusalem9961,811+82%
Kuala Lumpur456824+81%

Largest falls

PostSep 2021Oct 2021Change
Dar es Salaam421224-47%
Santiago1,317692-47%
Ciudad Juarez3,4061,827-46%
Ankara1,8751,053-44%
Bucharest1,8971,111-41%
Budapest320206-36%
Athens484316-35%
Frankfurt2,1331,405-34%

Visa classes in Oct 2021

Nonimmigrant

ClassIssuedShare
B1/B2 Temporary visitor for business and pleasure111,83337.7%
BBBCC Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card61,80520.8%
C1/D Combined transit and crewmember visa16,5915.6%
H2A Temporary worker performing agricultural service13,3334.5%
F1 Student in an academic or language training prog12,7344.3%
H2B Temporary worker performing other services11,5483.9%
J1 Exchange visitor9,3203.1%
H1B Temporary worker of distinguished merit and abil9,0563.1%
H4 Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-36,4892.2%
A2 Other foreign government official or employee, o6,1712.1%
L2 Spouse or child of intracompany transferee4,1231.4%
L1 Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, 4,1111.4%
BBBCV Combination B-1/B-2 and Border Crossing Card (Li3,9451.3%
E2 Treaty investor, spouse or child2,9541%
TN NAFTA professional2,3650.8%

Immigrant

ClassIssuedShare
IR5 Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age6,70218.5%
FX Family second preference, exempt from country li6,12716.9%
IR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen6,05916.7%
F4 Family fourth preference: brother or sister of U4,28711.8%
IR2 Child of U.S. citizen3,64610.1%
F3 Family third preference: married son or daughter2,0355.6%
F1 Family first preference: unmarried son or daught1,7584.9%
F2B Family second preference (2B): unmarried son or 1,6184.5%
E3 Employment third preference: skilled worker or p1,0022.8%
CR1 Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status)9092.5%
SB1 Returning resident4261.2%
E2 Employment second preference: professional holdi2900.8%

Oct in other years

MonthNonimmigrantImmigrant
Oct 2018699,26541,692
Oct 2019710,46839,966
Oct 2020124,0788,687
Oct 2021296,44236,245
Oct 2022704,73444,750
Oct 2023885,24146,695
Oct 2024977,71562,832

Questions and answers

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

296,442 nonimmigrant visas and 36,245 immigrant visas, according to the State Department's monthly tables, which the Department describes as preliminary.

Which posts issued the most visas in October 2021?

Mexico City (33,819), Monterrey (31,662), Tijuana (10,198), New Delhi (9,657) and Bogota (9,612).

Which posts changed most in October 2021?

Among posts with at least 200 issuances in both months, the largest rises on the previous month were Asuncion (+275%), Ho Chi Minh City (+239%) and Yerevan (+206%) and the largest falls Dar es Salaam (-47%), Santiago (-47%) and Ciudad Juarez (-46%).

Where does this data come from?

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