Riyadh · Saudi Arabia · January 2025
Visas issued at Riyadh in January 2025
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.
Nonimmigrant classes
| Class | Description (State Department) | Jan 2025 | Share | Dec 2024 | Jan 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1/B2 | Temporary visitor for business and pleasure | 4,454 | 82.1% | 2,833 | 3,077 |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 597 | 11% | 490 | 424 |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 90 | 1.7% | 204 | 76 |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 45 | 0.8% | 49 | 19 |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 25 | 0.5% | 26 | 14 |
| A3 | Attendant, servant, or personal employee of A1 or A2, or immediate family | 23 | 0.4% | 86 | 20 |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 23 | 0.4% | 24 | 23 |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 22 | 0.4% | 79 | 21 |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 22 | 0.4% | 0 | 7 |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 21 | 0.4% | 1 | 13 |
| D | Crewmember (sea or air) | 18 | 0.3% | 30 | 31 |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 15 | 0.3% | 15 | 23 |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 14 | 0.3% | 5 | 9 |
| M1 | Vocational student and other nonacademic student | 11 | 0.2% | 10 | 17 |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 10 | 0.2% | 6 | 5 |
| A1 | Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat or consular officer, or immediate family | 7 | 0.1% | 8 | 4 |
| G1 | Principal resident representative of recognized foreign government to international organization, staff, or immediate family | 6 | 0.1% | 1 | 0 |
| I | Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children | 5 | 0.1% | 1 | 6 |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 5 | 0.1% | 10 | 3 |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 5 | 0.1% | 3 | 14 |
| E2 | Treaty investor, spouse or child | 3 | 0.1% | 0 | 0 |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 2 | 0% | 0 | 3 |
| B2 | Temporary visitor for pleasure | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 1 | 0% | 5 | 1 |
| K2 | Child of K-1 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| M2 | Spouse or child of vocational student | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| O3 | Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 1 |
Immigrant classes
| Class | Description (State Department) | Jan 2025 | Share | Dec 2024 | Jan 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen | 91 | 21.6% | 78 | 37 |
| E2 | Employment second preference: professional holding advanced degree or alien of exceptional ability, spouse and child (E21-E23) | 85 | 20.2% | 51 | 24 |
| DV | Diversity immigrant (DV1, DV2, DV3) | 62 | 14.7% | 60 | 36 |
| IR5 | Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age | 54 | 12.8% | 71 | 28 |
| E3 | Employment third preference: skilled worker or professional holding baccalaureate degree, spouse and child (E31, E32, E34, E35) | 52 | 12.4% | 74 | 62 |
| IR2 | Child of U.S. citizen | 25 | 5.9% | 18 | 7 |
| CR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status) | 16 | 3.8% | 21 | 10 |
| F4 | Family fourth preference: brother or sister of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age, spouse and child (F41, F42, F43) | 8 | 1.9% | 4 | 3 |
| I5 | Investor pilot program (regional center) in targeted area, spouse and child (I51-I53) | 8 | 1.9% | 13 | 2 |
| F2A | Family second preference (2A): spouse or child of lawful permanent resident (F21, F22, F23, C21-C23, B21-B23) | 4 | 1% | 9 | 0 |
| F3 | Family third preference: married son or daughter of U.S. citizen, spouse and child (F31, F32, F33, C31-C33, B31-B33) | 4 | 1% | 14 | 4 |
| FX | Family second preference, exempt from country limitations: spouse or child of lawful permanent resident (FX1, FX2, FX3, CX1-CX3, BX1-BX3) | 3 | 0.7% | 8 | 6 |
| E1 | Employment first preference (priority workers): person with extraordinary ability, outstanding professor or researcher, multinational executive or manager, spouse and child (E11-E15) | 2 | 0.5% | 23 | 0 |
| EW | Employment third preference, other worker (subgroup numerical limit), spouse and child (EW3, EW4, EW5) | 2 | 0.5% | 10 | 4 |
| IW | Certain spouses of deceased U.S. citizens, and their children (IW1, IW2) | 2 | 0.5% | 0 | 0 |
| GV1 | Certain employee or former employee of the U.S. Government abroad | 1 | 0.2% | 1 | 0 |
| GV2 | Spouse of GV1 | 1 | 0.2% | 1 | 0 |
| GV3 | Child of GV1 | 1 | 0.2% | 3 | 0 |
Context
| January 2025 | Riyadh | All posts |
|---|---|---|
| Nonimmigrant visas | 5,428 | 954,595 |
| Change on previous month | +40% | +8% |
| Change on same month a year earlier | +42% | +9% |
| Immigrant visas | 421 | 54,288 |
Nearest wait-time reading on or before the end of Jan 2025 (6 Jan 2025): B1/B2 next available 15 days; F, M, J 1 day; H, L, O, P, Q 1 day.
Other months at this post: Sep 2025 · Aug 2025 · Jul 2025 · Jun 2025 · May 2025 · Apr 2025 · Mar 2025 · Feb 2025 · Dec 2024 · Nov 2024 · Oct 2024 · Sep 2024 · Aug 2024 · Jul 2024 · Jun 2024 · May 2024 · Apr 2024 · Mar 2024 · Feb 2024 · Jan 2024 · Dec 2023 · Nov 2023 · Oct 2023. Back to the Riyadh page.
Questions and answers
How many visas did Riyadh issue in January 2025?
5,428 nonimmigrant visas and 421 immigrant visas, per the State Department's monthly tables for January 2025. That was the 43th largest nonimmigrant count among 216 posts that month.
How did January 2025 compare with the month before and a year earlier at Riyadh?
December 2024: 3,888 nonimmigrant visas (+40% to Jan 2025). January 2024: 3,811 (+42%).
Which classes made up the month?
B1/B2 4,454 (82.1%), A2 597 (11%), F1 90 (1.7%), B1 45 (0.8%), J1 25 (0.5%).
Provenance
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Monthly Nonimmigrant Visa Issuances by Post and Visa Class and Monthly Immigrant Visa Issuances by Post and Visa Class for January 2025, public domain. Data through 30 Sep 2025. See corrections.