Visas & Green Cards
Visas & Green Cards is a data page on the Immigration desk of Glassbox Auditing. Temporary visas by purpose and class, green cards by route, where new green-card holders were born, entries by citizenship and naturalizations, each against five years earlier and 2019. Visitors' spending counts as U.S. exports, and green cards add permanent workers.
Last updated: .
What is on this page today?
- Temporary-visa entries: 77.65 million in fiscal 2024, +14% on 2023 — tourists (B-2 and Visa Waiver) 78% of them · entries, not people: a traveller entering five times counts five times (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- Work-visa entries: 4.78 million in fiscal 2024, +16% on 2023 — H-1B, L-1, TN, H-2A, H-2B, O-1, E-1, E-2, E-3, P-1, R-1 · entries, not people (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- Most new green cards in fiscal 2024 went to people born in Mexico: 202,600 of 1.36 million (15%) — fiscal 2024 against 2023: Mexico +12%, Cuba +126%, China, People's Republic +21% (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- Green cards through the diversity lottery: 49,890 in fiscal 2024, -26% on 2023 — 4% of 1.36 million new green cards (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- 994,130 naturalization applications were filed in fiscal 2024, +20% on 2023; 86,410 were denied — 818,570 people naturalized · denial rate 9.5% against 10.3% in 2023 · filings ran 175,560 above naturalizations (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- Green cards through employment: 171,120 in fiscal 2024, -13% on 2023 — 13% of 1.36 million new green cards (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- Citizens of Mexico made 23.07 million of the 77.65 million temporary-visa entries in fiscal 2024 (30%), the most of any country — fiscal 2024 against 2023: Mexico +17%, Canada +9%, United Kingdom +4% (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- Green cards for other relatives (capped): 188,190 in fiscal 2024, -8% on 2023 — 14% of 1.36 million new green cards (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- Green cards for citizens' spouses, children and parents: 672,240 in fiscal 2024, +22% on 2023 — 49% of 1.36 million new green cards (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- Green cards for refugees and asylees: 219,850 in fiscal 2024, +121% on 2023 — 16% of 1.36 million new green cards (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- Green cards through other routes: 62,820 in fiscal 2024, +17% on 2023 — 5% of 1.36 million new green cards (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
Where does the data come from?
Items on this page come from DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Each item links to its own source. All sources, how items are checked.
What does this page lead to?
- Flights (Travel): Most temporary-visa entries are tourists and business visitors arriving by air, so the count moves with international air travel and airline revenue. (moves the same way; months; sector scale) Source: DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics.
- Stays (Travel): Foreign visitors spend on hotels and short-term rentals, so the counts of tourist and business entries move with that spending. (moves the same way; months; sector scale) Source: DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics.
- Labor Market (Macro): Green cards add permanent workers; employment-based cards, capped at about 140,000 a year with dependants, go mostly to people already working here on temporary visas. (moves the same way; years; economy scale) Source: DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics.
- Business Activity (Macro): What business and tourist visitors spend here counts as U.S. service exports (travel), part of the trade balance. (moves the same way; months; economy scale) Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (NIPA).
What feeds this page?
- Nobel Prizes (World Powers): Many U.S.-affiliated laureates were born abroad; scientists usually come through graduate study and employment-based green cards, including the EB-1 route for extraordinary ability, which the Visas page counts. (either way, depending on the cause; years; global scale) Source: Nobel Prize Outreach, Nobel Prize Master Data API 2.0 (CC0).