Posts › Seoul › September 2024
Seoul · South Korea · September 2024
Visas issued at Seoul in September 2024
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) | Sep 2024 | Share | Aug 2024 | Sep 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1/B2 | Temporary visitor for business and pleasure | 963 | 28.2% | 1,298 | 992 |
| E2 | Treaty investor, spouse or child | 351 | 10.3% | 466 | 518 |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 335 | 9.8% | 528 | 320 |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 268 | 7.8% | 382 | 259 |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 238 | 7% | 936 | 260 |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 225 | 6.6% | 233 | 332 |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 163 | 4.8% | 192 | 145 |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 152 | 4.4% | 168 | 215 |
| O2 | Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O-1 | 145 | 4.2% | 92 | 21 |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 120 | 3.5% | 166 | 219 |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 112 | 3.3% | 191 | 140 |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 63 | 1.8% | 83 | 40 |
| P1 | Internationally recognized athlete or member of internationally recognized entertainment group | 54 | 1.6% | 97 | 73 |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 43 | 1.3% | 79 | 37 |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 31 | 0.9% | 46 | 32 |
| P3 | Artist or entertainer in a culturally unique program | 29 | 0.8% | 15 | 24 |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 26 | 0.8% | 16 | 33 |
| R1 | Alien in a religious occupation | 17 | 0.5% | 20 | 14 |
| R2 | Spouse or child of R1 | 14 | 0.4% | 8 | 11 |
| O3 | Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2 | 13 | 0.4% | 22 | 5 |
| G2 | Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family | 9 | 0.3% | 0 | 18 |
| I | Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children | 9 | 0.3% | 11 | 13 |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 8 | 0.2% | 34 | 12 |
| E1 | Treaty trader, spouse or child | 5 | 0.1% | 21 | 30 |
| C3 | Foreign government official, immediate family, attendant, servant or personal employee, in transit | 4 | 0.1% | 14 | 0 |
| B2 | Temporary visitor for pleasure | 3 | 0.1% | 2 | 1 |
| G1 | Principal resident representative of recognized foreign government to international organization, staff, or immediate family | 3 | 0.1% | 3 | 1 |
| M1 | Vocational student and other nonacademic student | 3 | 0.1% | 41 | 13 |
| C1 | Alien in transit | 2 | 0.1% | 1 | 5 |
| CW1 | Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands transitional worker | 2 | 0.1% | 8 | 10 |
| CW2 | Spouse or child of CW-1 | 2 | 0.1% | 4 | 2 |
| E2C | Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands investor, spouse or child | 2 | 0.1% | 0 | 4 |
| H2B | Temporary worker performing other services | 2 | 0.1% | 0 | 1 |
| A1 | Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat or consular officer, or immediate family | 1 | 0% | 3 | 6 |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 1 | 0% | 3 | 0 |
| E3 | Australian specialty occupation professional | 1 | 0% | 1 | 0 |
| P4 | Spouse or child of P-1, P-2, or P-3 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 1 |
Immigrant classes
| Class | Description (State Department) | Sep 2024 | Share | Aug 2024 | Sep 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E2 | Employment second preference: professional holding advanced degree or alien of exceptional ability, spouse and child (E21-E23) | 43 | 23.8% | 73 | 277 |
| DV | Diversity immigrant (DV1, DV2, DV3) | 26 | 14.4% | 18 | 4 |
| CR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status) | 20 | 11% | 11 | 35 |
| IR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen | 17 | 9.4% | 34 | 47 |
| F4 | Family fourth preference: brother or sister of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age, spouse and child (F41, F42, F43) | 15 | 8.3% | 49 | 14 |
| F3 | Family third preference: married son or daughter of U.S. citizen, spouse and child (F31, F32, F33, C31-C33, B31-B33) | 14 | 7.7% | 37 | 11 |
| IR5 | Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age | 13 | 7.2% | 26 | 35 |
| F2B | Family second preference (2B): unmarried son or daughter of lawful permanent resident, and child (F24, F25, C24, C25, B24, B25) | 11 | 6.1% | 10 | 3 |
| F2A | Family second preference (2A): spouse or child of lawful permanent resident (F21, F22, F23, C21-C23, B21-B23) | 6 | 3.3% | 17 | 1 |
| FX | Family second preference, exempt from country limitations: spouse or child of lawful permanent resident (FX1, FX2, FX3, CX1-CX3, BX1-BX3) | 6 | 3.3% | 21 | 0 |
| IR2 | Child of U.S. citizen | 5 | 2.8% | 5 | 5 |
| F1 | Family first preference: unmarried son or daughter of U.S. citizen, and child (F11, F12, B11, B12) | 2 | 1.1% | 6 | 1 |
| IR3 | Orphan adopted abroad by U.S. citizen | 2 | 1.1% | 2 | 0 |
| CR2 | Child of U.S. citizen (conditional status) | 1 | 0.6% | 0 | 0 |
Context
| September 2024 | Seoul | All posts |
|---|---|---|
| Nonimmigrant visas | 3,420 | 925,157 |
| Change on previous month | -34% | -1% |
| Change on same month a year earlier | -10% | +9% |
| Immigrant visas | 181 | 57,983 |
Nearest wait-time reading on or before the end of Sep 2024 (14 Sep 2024): B1/B2 next available 1 day; 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 · Jan 2025 · Dec 2024 · Nov 2024 · Oct 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 Seoul page.
Questions and answers
How many visas did Seoul issue in September 2024?
3,420 nonimmigrant visas and 181 immigrant visas, per the State Department's monthly tables for September 2024. That was the 61th largest nonimmigrant count among 216 posts that month.
How did September 2024 compare with the month before and a year earlier at Seoul?
August 2024: 5,185 nonimmigrant visas (-34% to Sep 2024). September 2023: 3,811 (-10%).
Which classes made up the month?
B1/B2 963 (28.2%), E2 351 (10.3%), J1 335 (9.8%), C1/D 268 (7.8%), F1 238 (7%).
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 September 2024, public domain. Data through 30 Sep 2025. See corrections.