How Many Visas Are Issued Each Year

There isn’t one single number for how many visas the United States issues each year. The total changes depending on what you count: temporary visas, immigrant visas, work-related categories, student visas, or visas limited by law.

The clearest full-year figure available here is 10,438,327 nonimmigrant visas issued in fiscal year (FY) 2023. A separate figure shows nearly 9.9 million temporary visas issued from October 2024 through August 2025, covering the first 11 months of FY2025.

Those numbers cannot be added together. They cover different periods, and the available immigrant-visa figures are tracked separately.

The short answer: US visa totals depend on the visa category

If you mean temporary travel to the United States, the State Department issued:

• 10,438,327 nonimmigrant visas in FY2023
• Nearly 9.9 million temporary visas during the first 11 months of FY2025, from October 2024 through August 2025

If you mean visas for permanent immigration, the number is reported through separate immigrant-visa statistics. One available FY2023 figure is about 552,000 family-based visas in the immediate relative category.

That 552,000 figure is only one immigrant category. It is not the total number of immigrant visas issued in FY2023, and it does not include every family-based or employment-based category.

This is the key point: annual visa numbers may describe:

1. Visas actually issued
2. Applications filed
3. Applications approved or refused
4. A legal limit or yearly cap
5. A partial-year count

Those measures answer different questions. Treating them as one total can make the numbers look more certain than they are.

Two systems, two kinds of visa numbers

The United States generally separates visas into immigrant visas and nonimmigrant visas.

An immigrant visa is for someone seeking to move to the United States permanently. A person who enters with an immigrant visa may later receive permanent resident status, commonly called a green card. The visa issuance count and the number of green cards granted are related, but they are not automatically the same statistic.

A nonimmigrant visa is for a temporary purpose. This includes tourism, business visits, study, temporary employment, and other limited stays. These visas make up the much larger annual issuance count in the figures provided.

That difference explains why a search for how many immigrant visas are issued per year produces a much smaller and more complicated answer than a search for total temporary visa issuance.

Immigrant visa figures

Immigrant numbers are usually broken out by family relationships, employment categories, and other preference groups. The State Department’s monthly immigrant-visa statistics and annual Visa Office reports are the main places to look for these figures.

For FY2023, the available figure for the immediate relative family category was approximately 552,000 visas issued. “Immediate relative” is a specific family-based group. It should not be mistaken for all family-sponsored immigration.

Some immigrant categories are also subject to annual limits. Those limits affect how many visas may be available, but they do not tell you exactly how many visas were issued in a given year.

Nonimmigrant visa figures

Nonimmigrant data covers temporary visas issued by U.S. consular posts. It can include several very different purposes, from short visits to university study and temporary jobs.

The FY2023 total of 10,438,327 is a full fiscal-year issuance count for nonimmigrant visas. It is not an application total and does not include immigrant visas in the same figure.

The nearly 9.9 million temporary visas issued in the first 11 months of FY2025 is also an issuance count, but it is not a full-year number. It covers October 2024 through August 2025. A reader should not compare it directly with a full FY2023 figure as if both covered the same number of months.

What the available annual issuance figures show

The strongest direct answer to how many visas are issued each year comes from the nonimmigrant issuance total:

> 10,438,327 nonimmigrant visas were issued in FY2023.

That is the broadest full-year number provided in the available data. It includes temporary visa categories, but it does not tell us how many were work visas, student visas, tourist visas, or visas issued to people from any one nationality.

The other major figure is:

> Nearly 9.9 million temporary visas were issued during the first 11 months of FY2025, from October 2024 through August 2025.

This is close in size to the FY2023 full-year number, but the comparison needs care. FY2025’s number stops after 11 months. It is also described as temporary visa issuance, while the FY2023 figure is identified as nonimmigrant visa issuance. Those categories may be closely related in this reporting context, but the figures should still be kept labeled as reported.

For immigrant visas, the available number is narrower:

> Approximately 552,000 immediate-relative family visas were issued in FY2023.

That number does not fill in the missing total for all immigrant visa categories. It is one category within the broader immigrant system.

So the available figures show the scale of the system, but they do not create one official combined annual total.

Why fiscal year and reporting method matter

A fiscal-year figure covers a defined reporting period. A partial-year figure does not.

For example, the FY2023 nonimmigrant total covers a complete fiscal year. The FY2025 temporary-visa figure covers only October 2024 through August 2025. It is therefore not a final FY2025 total.

The label also tells you what is being counted:

• Issued visas: Documents granted by the government.
• Applications: Requests submitted by applicants.
• Approvals: Applications accepted or cases approved under a particular process.
• Refusals: Applications that were not issued at that point or under that decision.
• Visa limits: The number allowed under a law or category rule.

These figures can appear in the same discussion, but they should not be swapped.

A monthly report may show how many visas were issued in one month. An annual report may group the same type of activity across a fiscal year. A Visa Bulletin may show category availability and priority dates rather than completed issuance. Each source has a different job.

Visa limits are not the same as visas issued

A legal limit tells you how many visas may be available under a category. It does not prove that the government issued that exact number.

The provided figures include two important limits:

• Sponsored preference visas: limited to 226,000 per year
• Employment-based preference visas: limited to 140,000 per year

These are annual limits, not issuance totals for a particular year. They should not be added to the FY2023 nonimmigrant figure or the FY2023 immediate-relative count.

The employment-based limit also covers a broader group than any single work visa. That means it cannot answer how many work visas are issued each year, and it cannot answer how many H-1B visas are issued per year.

A limit may be affected by category rules, available numbers, and how cases move through the system. Without an actual issuance table for the category and year in question, the limit remains a ceiling or allocation rule—not a count of completed visas.

How H-1B, work, student, and family figures fit into the total

Many people ask about a specific visa type and then compare that number with the total number of U.S. visas. The comparison only works if both figures use the same category and time period.

H-1B and other work visas

The available research does not provide an annual H-1B issuance total. It also does not provide a complete yearly total for all work visas.

The 140,000 annual employment-based preference limit cannot be used as an H-1B count. It is a broader immigrant employment-based limit, while H-1B is a temporary work category.

That distinction matters because “employment-based immigration” and “temporary employment” are different parts of the visa system. One number cannot stand in for both.

The same caution applies to the question, how many work visas are issued each year? The answer depends on which temporary and immigrant work categories are included and whether the number refers to applications, approvals, or visas issued. The supplied figures do not provide that combined total.

Student visas and the F-1 question

F-1 is the main temporary visa category associated with academic students. However, the available figures do not state the number of F-1 visas issued by year.

The FY2023 total of 10,438,327 nonimmigrant visas includes many temporary categories. It should not be treated as an F-1 count. Likewise, the nearly 9.9 million temporary visas issued in the first 11 months of FY2025 is not a student-visa total.

To find a yearly F-1 figure, you would need a report that breaks nonimmigrant issuance down by visa class and fiscal year. A broad total cannot supply that detail on its own.

Family-based immigration

The approximately 552,000 immediate-relative visas issued in FY2023 show why family figures need category labels.

“Family-based” can refer to more than one group. Immediate relatives are only one part of the family immigration system. The 552,000 figure therefore should not be described as the total number of family-based visas issued in FY2023.

It also should not be combined with the 226,000 sponsored preference limit. One is an issuance figure for a specific FY2023 category. The other is an annual limit for sponsored preference visas.

Where to find monthly and annual US visa statistics

For current numbers, start with the State Department’s monthly immigrant-visa statistics. Monthly tables are useful when you need to see how issuance changes during a particular part of a fiscal year.

The State Department’s annual Visa Office reports are better for a wider yearly view. They can help separate immigrant and nonimmigrant categories and show how a figure is defined.

The Visa Bulletin serves a different purpose. It focuses on visa availability, category movement, and priority dates. Those details can explain whether a category has numbers available, but they are not the same as a table of visas already issued.

When reading any table, check four details before using the number:

• Is the figure for immigrants or temporary visitors?
• Does it cover a full fiscal year or only part of one?
• Is it an issuance count, an application count, or a limit?
• Does it cover every category or only one group?

Those labels often matter more than the headline number.

What annual visa numbers can and cannot tell you about approval rates

An issuance total cannot tell you the approval rate by itself.

To calculate an approval rate, you would need a matching denominator and a clear definition of “approval.” For example, the relevant comparison might involve applications received and cases approved during the same period. But an issuance count alone does not provide the number of applications, refusals, or pending cases needed for that calculation.

That is why the available figures cannot establish a U.S. visa approval rate by country. They show how many visas were issued, not the share of applicants who received approval in each nationality group.

The same limit applies to the question, “How many people apply for a U.S. visa every year?” The supplied figures do not provide an annual applicant total. Applications, approvals, refusals, and issued visas are separate measurements.

Nor do the figures establish a current green card approval rate. The immediate-relative issuance number and the employment-based limit describe parts of the immigrant system, but neither one supplies the total number of cases considered or the percentage approved.

If you’re checking U.S. visa statistics in 2026, use the newest State Department monthly immigrant-visa statistics and the latest annual Visa Office reports. Make sure the fiscal year, visa category, and type of measurement match before relying on an older figure.