Posts › Abu Dhabi › January 2025
Abu Dhabi · United Arab Emirates · January 2025
Visas issued at Abu Dhabi 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 | 3,258 | 84% | 1,849 | 3,702 |
| C1/D | Combined transit and crewmember visa | 159 | 4.1% | 90 | 132 |
| H1B | Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse | 97 | 2.5% | 72 | 46 |
| F1 | Student in an academic or language training program | 92 | 2.4% | 168 | 84 |
| A2 | Other foreign government official or employee, or immediate family | 72 | 1.9% | 136 | 73 |
| H4 | Spouse or child of H-1B/B1/C, H-2A/B, or H-3 | 41 | 1.1% | 35 | 32 |
| B1 | Temporary visitor for business | 31 | 0.8% | 27 | 19 |
| L1 | Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) | 26 | 0.7% | 26 | 6 |
| J1 | Exchange visitor | 22 | 0.6% | 22 | 28 |
| L2 | Spouse or child of intracompany transferee | 20 | 0.5% | 25 | 6 |
| K1 | Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen | 17 | 0.4% | 45 | 81 |
| F2 | Spouse or child of F1 | 11 | 0.3% | 6 | 2 |
| A3 | Attendant, servant, or personal employee of A1 or A2, or immediate family | 7 | 0.2% | 4 | 5 |
| D | Crewmember (sea or air) | 7 | 0.2% | 5 | 10 |
| C1 | Alien in transit | 4 | 0.1% | 3 | 3 |
| J2 | Spouse or child of exchange visitor | 4 | 0.1% | 6 | 2 |
| O1 | Person with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics | 4 | 0.1% | 1 | 2 |
| G4 | International organization officer or employee, and immediate family | 2 | 0.1% | 0 | 0 |
| M1 | Vocational student and other nonacademic student | 2 | 0.1% | 0 | 3 |
| A1 | Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat or consular officer, or immediate family | 1 | 0% | 1 | 0 |
| K2 | Child of K-1 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 2 |
| R1 | Alien in a religious occupation | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
Immigrant classes
| Class | Description (State Department) | Jan 2025 | Share | Dec 2024 | Jan 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E3 | Employment third preference: skilled worker or professional holding baccalaureate degree, spouse and child (E31, E32, E34, E35) | 98 | 28.1% | 0 | 28 |
| DV | Diversity immigrant (DV1, DV2, DV3) | 57 | 16.3% | 71 | 28 |
| IR5 | Parent of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age | 56 | 16% | 50 | 30 |
| F4 | Family fourth preference: brother or sister of U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age, spouse and child (F41, F42, F43) | 30 | 8.6% | 48 | 6 |
| IR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen | 30 | 8.6% | 38 | 37 |
| SQ3 | Child of SQ1 | 14 | 4% | 1 | 2 |
| F3 | Family third preference: married son or daughter of U.S. citizen, spouse and child (F31, F32, F33, C31-C33, B31-B33) | 13 | 3.7% | 5 | 5 |
| IR2 | Child of U.S. citizen | 10 | 2.9% | 5 | 7 |
| SQ1 | Certain Iraqis or Afghans employed by or on behalf of the U.S. Government | 9 | 2.6% | 10 | 2 |
| FX | Family second preference, exempt from country limitations: spouse or child of lawful permanent resident (FX1, FX2, FX3, CX1-CX3, BX1-BX3) | 6 | 1.7% | 4 | 1 |
| E1 | Employment first preference (priority workers): person with extraordinary ability, outstanding professor or researcher, multinational executive or manager, spouse and child (E11-E15) | 4 | 1.1% | 0 | 3 |
| F1 | Family first preference: unmarried son or daughter of U.S. citizen, and child (F11, F12, B11, B12) | 4 | 1.1% | 4 | 4 |
| SQ2 | Spouse of SQ1 | 4 | 1.1% | 2 | 2 |
| CR1 | Spouse of U.S. citizen (conditional status) | 3 | 0.9% | 1 | 0 |
| E2 | Employment second preference: professional holding advanced degree or alien of exceptional ability, spouse and child (E21-E23) | 2 | 0.6% | 13 | 3 |
| F2B | Family second preference (2B): unmarried son or daughter of lawful permanent resident, and child (F24, F25, C24, C25, B24, B25) | 2 | 0.6% | 4 | 0 |
| IR4 | Orphan to be adopted in the United States by U.S. citizen | 2 | 0.6% | 0 | 0 |
| EW | Employment third preference, other worker (subgroup numerical limit), spouse and child (EW3, EW4, EW5) | 1 | 0.3% | 11 | 0 |
| GV1 | Certain employee or former employee of the U.S. Government abroad | 1 | 0.3% | 0 | 0 |
| GV2 | Spouse of GV1 | 1 | 0.3% | 0 | 0 |
| I5 | Investor pilot program (regional center) in targeted area, spouse and child (I51-I53) | 1 | 0.3% | 0 | 7 |
| SB1 | Returning resident | 1 | 0.3% | 1 | 0 |
Context
| January 2025 | Abu Dhabi | All posts |
|---|---|---|
| Nonimmigrant visas | 3,879 | 954,595 |
| Change on previous month | +54% | +8% |
| Change on same month a year earlier | -9% | +9% |
| Immigrant visas | 349 | 54,288 |
Nearest wait-time reading on or before the end of Jan 2025 (6 Jan 2025): B1/B2 next available 423 days; F, M, J 39 days; H, L, O, P, Q 26 days.
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 Abu Dhabi page.
Questions and answers
How many visas did Abu Dhabi issue in January 2025?
3,879 nonimmigrant visas and 349 immigrant visas, per the State Department's monthly tables for January 2025. That was the 53th largest nonimmigrant count among 216 posts that month.
How did January 2025 compare with the month before and a year earlier at Abu Dhabi?
December 2024: 2,523 nonimmigrant visas (+54% to Jan 2025). January 2024: 4,245 (-9%).
Which classes made up the month?
B1/B2 3,258 (84%), C1/D 159 (4.1%), H1B 97 (2.5%), F1 92 (2.4%), A2 72 (1.9%).
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.