Current Immigration Statistics - Nonimmigrants

Tourists, Business People, Foreign Government
Officials, and Foreign Students

Table 3.9 lists nonimmigrant visa classifications and numbers of nonimmigrant visas issued by the U.S. Department of State for fiscal years 1998 through 2002. The impact of increased security following the 2001 terrorist attacks can be seen in the almost 24% drop from 7,588,778 total visas issued in 2001 to a total of 5,769,437 in 2002. The largest category of nonimmigrant visas was visitors for business or pleasure (B-1, B-2, and B-1/B-2). The majority of persons with business in the United States also included plans for tourist or pleasure activities (B-1/B-2). FIGURE 3.9
Selected characteristics of immigrant citizenship groups, 2000–01 SOURCE: Michael Fix, Jeffrey S. Passel, and Kenneth Sucher, "Figure 4. Selected Characteristics of Immigrant Citizenship Groups: 2000–2001," in Trends in Naturalization, Brief No. 3, Immigrant Families and Workers: Facts and Perspectives, Immigration Studies Program, The Urban Institute, September 2003, http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/310847_trends_in_naturalization.pdf (accessed February 3, 2005) A combined total of 2,859,232 B class visas were issued in 2002—nearly half (49.6%) of all visas issued for the fiscal year. Students and their family members totaled 256,534 in 2002, or 4.4% of all visas issued.

There were no restrictions on the number of nonimmigrants allowed to enter the United States. In fact, the United States, like most other countries, encourages tourism and tries to attract as many visitors as possible. However, while it is easy to get in, strict rules do apply to the conditions of the visit. For example, students can stay only long enough to complete their studies, and business people can stay only six months (although a six-month extension is available). Most nonimmigrants are not allowed to hold jobs while in the United States, although exceptions are made for students and the families of diplomats. However, a certain undetermined number, amounting to many tens of thousands, chose to overstay their nonimmigrant visas and continue to live in the United States illegally.

Temporary Foreign Workers

A temporary worker is an alien coming to the United States to work for a temporary period. The major nonimmigrant visa category for legal temporary workers is the H visa, which includes the H-2/H-2A, H-1B/H-1B1, and H-1C visas.

THE H-2/H-2A PROGRAM.

The H-2 Temporary Agricultural Worker Program, authorized by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, was a flexible response to seasonal agricultural labor demands. Since 1964 it has been the only legal temporary foreign agricultural worker program in the United States. (The year 1964 marked the end of the Mexican Bracero program, a temporary foreign agricultural

TABLE 3.9
Nonimmigrant visas issued by classification, FY 1998–2002

Visa symbol/class		1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
A1	Ambassador, public minister, career diplomat, consul, and immediate family	10,437	10,757	10,698	9,662	10,452
A2	Other foreign government official or employee, and immediate family	66,998	66,335	69,079	66,398	71,728
A3	Attendant, servant, or personal employee of A1 and A2, and immediate family	2,148	2,279	2,486	2,228	1,971
B1	Temporary visitor for business	192,837	93,019	75,919	84,201	75,642
B2	Temporary visitor for pleasure	854,738	642,676	509,031	381,431	255,487
B1/B 2	Temporary visitor for business and pleasure	3,226,799	3,447,822	3,567,580	3,527,118	2,528,103
B1/B2/BCC	Combination B1/B2 and Border Crossing Card a	289,883	676,386	1,510,133	1,990,402	1,399,819
C1	Person in transit	31,457	26,494	26,407	27,231	24,207
C1/D	Combination transit/crew member (indiv. iss.) b	172,955	161,723	165,556	167,435	175,446
C2	Person in transit to United Nations Headquarters	34	25	37	24	8
C3	Foreign government official, immediate family, attendant, servant, or personal employee in transit	8,388	7,805	6,606	5,697	6,024
D Indiv. Iss.	Crew Member (sea or air) (individual issuance)	20,174	19,175	21,195	21,615	13,671
D Crewlist	Crewlist Visas	11,260	10,768	9,817	8,480	8,399
E1	Treaty trader, spouse and children	9,457	9,973	9,539	9,309	7,811
E2	Treaty investor, spouse and children	20,775	22,975	26,981	27,577	25,633
F1	Student (academic or language training program)	251,565	262,542	284,053	293,357	234,322
F2	Spouse or child of student	21,845	22,893	24,981	26,160	22,212
G1	Principal resident representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, staff, and immediate family	4,957	5,090	5,166	5,274	4,905
G2	Other representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, and immediate family	8,847	8,466	11,225	8,825	9,144
G3	Representative of nonrecognized or nonmember foreign government to international organization, and immediate family	150	165	258	134	99
G4	International organization officer or employee, and immediate family	15,245	17,142	16,960	16,999	17,374
G5	Attendant, servant, or personal employee of G1 through G4, and Attendant, servant, or personal employee of G1 through G4, and	1,614	1,737	1,737	1,645	1,482
H1A	Temporary worker performing services as a registered nurse c	18	5	2
H1B	Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability performing services other than as a registered nurse	91,360	116,513	133,290	161,643	118,352
H1C	Nurse in health professional shortage area c			—	34	212
H2A	Temporary worker performing agricultural services	22,676	28,568	30,201	31,523	31,538
H2B	Temporary worker performing other services	20,192	30,642	45,037	58,215	62,591
H3	Trainee	1,830	1,892	1,514	1,613	1,387
H4	Spouse or child of H1A/B/C, H2A/B, or H3	54,595	69,194	79,518	95,967	79,725
I	Representative of foreign information media, spouse and children	11,627	12,694	13,928	13,799	18,187
J1	Exchange visitor	192,451	211,349	236,837	261,769	253,841
J2	Spouse or child of exchange visitor	33,177	34,394	37,122	38,189	32,539
K1	Fiance(e) of U.S. citizen	12,968	17,025	21,471	24,973	28,338
K2	Child of fiance(e) of U.S. citizen	1,499	2,431	3,275	3,735	4,298
K3	Spouse of U.S. citizen awaiting availability of immigrant visa d				3	5,078
K4	Child of K3 d				1	1,294
L1	Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation)	38,307	41,739	54,963	59,384	57,721
L2	Spouse or child of intracompany transferee	44,176	46,289	57,069	61,154	54,903
M1	Vocational and other nonacademic student	6,515	6,240	6,107	5,373	4,116
M2	Spouse or child of vocational student	457	337	358	285	161
NATO1	Principal permanent representative of member state to NATO (including any of its subsidiary bodies) resident in the U.S., and resident members of official staff; principal NATO officers; and immediate family	4	22	17	4	24
NATO2	Other representatives of member states to NATO (including any of its subsidiary bodies), and immediate family; dependents of member of a force entering in accordance with provisions of NATO agreements;
	members of such force if issued visas	4,339	4,865	5,031	4,282	5,195
NATO3	Official clerical staff accompanying a representative of member state to NATO, and immediate family	—	—	—	—	—
NATO4	Officials of NATO (other than those classifiable as NATO1), and immediate family	80	211	97	95	89
NATO5	Experts, other than NATO4 officials, employed in missions on behalf of NATO, and their dependents	18	28	33	121	179

TABLE 3.9
Nonimmigrant visas issued by classification, FY 1998–2002 [CONTINUED]
SOURCE: "Table XVI (B). Nonimmigrant Visas Issued by Classification (Including Crewlist Visas and Border Crossing Cards): Fiscal Years 1998–2002," in Report of the Visa Office 2002, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, December 2004, http://travel.state.gov/pdf/visa_office_report_2002.pdf (accessed February 25, 2005)

Visa symbol/class		1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
NATO6	Members of a civilian component accompanying a force entering in accordance with the provisions of NATO agreements, and their dependents	150	256	209	220	192
NATO7	Attendant, servant, or personal employee of NATO1 through NATO6, and immediate family	2	6	3	1	8
N8	Parent of SK3 special immigrant	15	10	12	8	8
N9	Child of N8 or of SK1, SK2 or SK4 special immigrant	11	9	8	6	4
O1	Person with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics	4,257	5,009	6,466	6,666	6,026
O2	Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O1	1,778	2,185	1,894	1,918	1,972
O3	Spouse or child of O1 or O2	1,056	1,480	2,101	2,287	1,760
P1	Internationally recognized athlete or member of an internationally recognized entertainment group	20,598	22,306	23,786	24,378	24,287
P2	Artist or entertainer in a reciprocal exchange program	175	198	238	125	119
P3	Artist or entertainer in a culturally unique program	9,291	8,068	10,501	8,495	8,131
P4	Spouse or child of P1, P2, or P3	628	742	868	1,020	938
Q1	Participant in an international cultural exchange program	1,312	1,836	2,024	1,432	1,469
Q2	Irish Peace Process trainee e			358	186	329
Q3	Spouse or child of Q2 e			3	—	1
R1	Person in a religious occupation	5,450	6,497	7,418	8,503	8,646
R2	Spouse or child of R1	1,395	2,003	2,489	3,009	3,175
S5	Informant possessing critical reliable information concerning criminal organization or enterprisef	—	—	—	—	—
S6	Informant possessing critical reliable information concerning terrorist organization, enterprise, or operationf	—	—	—	—	—
S7	Spouse, married or unmarried son or daughter, or parent of S5 or S6f	—	—	—	—	—
TN	NAFTA professional	295	484	906	787	699
TD	Spouse or child of TN	530	704	1,128	1,041	856
T1	Victim of a severe form of trafficking in personsg				—	—
T2	Spouse of T1g				—	—
T3	Child of T1g				—	—
T4	Parent of T1 under 21 years of ageg				—	—
U1	Victim of criminal activityh				—	—
U2	Spouse of U1h				—	—
U3	Child of U1h				—	—
U4	Parent of U1 under 21 years of ageh				—	—
V1	Spouse of lawful permanent resident awaiting availability of immigrant visai				9,127	18,020
V2	Child of lawful permanent resident awaiting availability of immigrant visai				14,805	19,523
V3	Derivative child of V1 or V2i				1,400	19,567
Other nonimmigrant classes
BCC	Border Crossing Cardsa	8,358
Grand total		5,814,153	6,192,478	7,141,636	7,588,778	5,769,437
aBorder Crossing Cards (BCC) were issued at posts in Canada and Mexico; issuance ceased in Fiscal Year 1998. Combination B1/B2 and Border Crossing Card (B/B2/BCC) issuances began in Fiscal Year 1984 at posts in Mexico and in Fiscal Year 1992 at posts in Canada; issuance ceased in Fiscal Year 1998 at posts in Canada.
bCombination C1/D visas (issued in lieu of separate concurrent C1 and D visas) are counted as one visa, not two.
cThe H1C category was established by Section 2(a) of the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 106 95) enacted November 12, 1999; it is effective from June 11, 2001 (the date the Immigration and Naturalization Service published implementing regulations) through June 11, 2005 only. Section 2(c) of Pub. L. 106 95 repealed the former H1A category relating to registered nurses.
dNonimmigrant status for spouses of U.S. citizens (and their children) awaiting the availability of an immigrant visa was provided by Section 1103 of the Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act of 2000 (Title XI of Pub. L. 106 553) enacted December 21, 2000.
eCategory established by the Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105 319), and effective October 30, 1998 through September 30, 2005 only.
fCategory established by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103 322), and effective September 13, 1994 through September 12, 1999. Section 2 of Pub. L. 106 104 extended this category through September 12, 2001. The category was made permanent by Pub. L. 107 45 enacted October 1, 2001.
gCategory established by Section 107(e)(1), division A (Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000) of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106 386) enacted October 28, 2000.
hCategory established by Section 1513(b), title V (Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000), division B (Violence Against Women Act of 2000) of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106 386) enacted October 28, 2000.
iNonimmigrant status for spouses and children of lawful permanent residents (and their children) awaiting the availability of an immigrant visa was provided by Section 1102 of the Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act of 2000 (Title XI of Pub. L. 106 553) enacted December 21, 2000.

worker program negotiated between the United States and Mexico.) In 1986 the H-2 program was amended as the H-2A program. No numerical limit on the number of workers allowed per year has been set for this program.

Under the H-2A temporary agricultural program, employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers can bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the United States to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. The employer files an application with the Labor Department stating that there are not enough workers able, willing, qualified, and available, and that the employment of aliens will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. The employer must also certify that the jobs are not vacant due to a labor dispute. The employer pays a fee of $100, plus $10 for each job opportunity certified, up to a maximum fee of $1,000 for each certification granted.

Hiring foreign workers under the H-2A program places a number of requirements on the employer, including advertising for and hiring qualified domestic workers, providing workers compensation insurance or equivalent insurance for all workers, and following specific pay and recordkeeping procedures. In some situations the employer could be required to pay for transportation and provide housing and meals for workers.

The employer is required to pay all workers the higher of (1) the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) determined by the Labor Department for each state, (2) the applicable prevailing wage for the state, or (3) the statutory minimum wage. The federal minimum wage in 2004 was $5.15 per hour. Table 3.10 lists the 2004 AEWR for all states. State hourly AEWRs ranged from a low of $7.38 in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi to $9.28 in Iowa and Missouri. Hawaii was highest at $9.60.

The numbers of certified H-2A jobs have varied over the years. In a study for the Pew Hispanic Center (Guest Workers: New Solution, New Problem?, Washington, DC, March 21, 2002), Philip Martin noted that in 1990 the number of jobs certified was 25,412, dropping to 17,000 in 1993, to 15,117 in 1995, then tripling to 44,017 in 2000. Compared to the total number of U.S. farm workers, the number of H-2A workers has been small. In 2001 the U.S. Department of Labor reported in their National Agricultural Workers Surveys that during the 1990s an estimated 2.5 million people were employed on U.S. farms in a typical year, including about 1.8 million on crop farms. The Labor Department also reported that more than half of the farm workforce consisted of unauthorized foreigners.

According to the Department of State, 6,564 employers applied for H-2A certification of 45,716 workers in fiscal year (FY) 2003. A total of 6,360 employers were approved to hire 44,033 workers (United States Department of Labor H-2A Regional Summary, Fiscal Year 2003, Washington, DC, 2004). Almost half of the approved jobs (21,221) were in the Atlanta Region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). Table 3.11 identifies the number of certified employers and foreign workers by agricultural category for the Atlanta Region. By far the largest agricultural need was for tobacco workers (11,123)

TABLE 3.10
Adverse effect wage rates, 2004
SOURCE: "Adverse Effect Wage Rates: Year 2005," U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration, http://www.ows.doleta.gov/foreign/adverse.asp (accessed March 4, 2005)

State	2004
Alabama	$7.88
Arizona	$7.54
Arkansas	$7.38
California	$8.50
Colorado	$8.36
Connecticut	$9.01
Delaware	$8.52
Florida	$8.18
Georgia	$7.88
Hawaii	$9.60
Idaho	$7.69
Illinois	$9.00
Indiana	$9.00
Iowa	$9.28
Kansas	$8.83
Kentucky	$7.63
Louisiana	$7.38
Maine	$9.01
Maryland	$8.52
Massachusetts	$9.01
Michigan	$9.11
Minnesota	$9.11
Mississippi	$7.38
Missouri	$9.28
Montana	$7.69
Nebraska	$8.83
Nevada	$8.36
New Hampshire	$9.01
New Jersey	$8.52
New Mexico	$7.54
New York	$9.01
North Carolina	$8.06
North Dakota	$8.83
Ohio	$9.00
Oklahoma	$7.73
Oregon	$8.73
Pennsylvania	$8.52
Rhode Island	$9.01
South Carolina	$7.88
South Dakota	$8.83
Tennessee	$7.63
Texas	$7.73
Utah	$8.36
Vermont	$9.01
Virginia	$8.06
Washington	$8.73
West Virginia	$7.63
Wisconsin	$9.11
Wyoming	$7.69
Note: Adverse effect wage rates are the minimum wage rates which the Department of Labor has determined must be offered and paid to U.S. and foreign workers by employers of nonimmigrant foreign agricultural workers (H2-A visa holders).

who represented 52% of the H-2A certified workers in the eight-state Atlanta Region. Christmas tree harvesters were needed only in North Carolina, cotton and corn pickers in Mississippi, grape and pecan pickers in Georgia, and sugarcane cutters in Florida.

THE H-1B PROGRAM.

The H-1B program allows an employer to temporarily employ a foreign worker in the United States on a nonimmigrant basis in a specialty occupation or as a model of distinguished merit and ability. A specialty occupation requires the theoretical

TABLE 3.11
H-2A activity, Atlanta region, FY 2003
SOURCE: Adapted from "United States Department of Labor H-2A Crop Activity Summary, Fiscal Year 2003," in United States Department of Labor H-2A Regional Summary, Fiscal Year 2003, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration, http://www.ows.doleta.gov/foreign/h-2a_region.asp (accessed March 4, 2005)

Agricultural category	Employers certified	Workers certified
Bee keeper	5	20
Catfish	1	3
Christmas trees	57	699
Cook	1	1
Corn	1	20
Cotton	3	23
Dairy	1	1
Fish	6	151
Fruit	45	1,563
Grain	25	69
Grape	1	90
Hay	3	9
Horses	1	3
Horticulture	108	1,419
Livestock	2	8
Onion	5	622
Peach	23	1,815
Pecans	2	40
Rice	2	9
Sheep herding	2	10
Sod	6	55
Sugar cane	2	4
Tobacco	2,137	11,124
Vegetables	106	3,455
Wheat	1	8
Total	2,546	21,221

and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge and a bachelor's degree or the equivalent in the specific specialty (e.g., sciences, medicine and health care, education, biotechnology, business specialties, etc.). Effective January 1, 2004, the H-1B1 program became available, allowing employers to request such specialty foreign workers from Chile and Singapore. To hire a foreign worker on an H-1B or H-1B1 visa, the job had to be a professional position that normally requires a bachelor's degree as a minimum for entry into the occupation.

A foreign worker can be in H-1B status for a maximum continuous period of six years. After the H-1B expires, the worker has to remain outside the United States for one year before another H-1B petition can be approved. Certain foreign workers with labor certification applications or immigrant visa petitions in process for extended periods may stay in H-1B status beyond the normal six-year limitation, in one-year increments. Extensions and renewals were allowed under the H-1B1 program, however, adjustment-of-status to another nonimmigrant category or to legal permanent residency is not permitted.

The Immigration Act of 1990 set the ceiling on H-1B admissions for initial employment at 65,000 beginning in FY 1992, but demand for H-1B workers grew. The

TABLE 3.12
H-1B visas issued by fiscal year, 1992–2005
SOURCE: "H-1Bs Issued by Fiscal Year, 1992–2005," National Foundation for American Policy, 2004, http://www.nfap.net/researchactivities/immigrationresearch/H-1BVisasByYear.pdf (accessed March 18, 2005)

Fiscal year	H-1Bs counted against cap
1992	48,600
1993	61,600
1994	60,300
1995	54,200
1996	55,100
1997	65,000
1998	65,000
1999	115,000
2000	115,000
2001	163,600
2002	79,100
2003	78,000
2004	65,000
2005	65,000*
Note: In FY 1997, 5,000 petitions were carried over and applied to the FY 1998 cap. In FY 1998, 14,000 petitions were carried over and applied to the FY 1999 cap. In FY 1999, an audit showed the cap was exceeded by 22,000 and thousands of other petitions were carried forward to FY 2001. In FY 2000, the cap was reached July 21, 2000 and under legislation thousands of approved petitions were not included in the cap count. In FY 2001, the new cap of 195,000 was not reached; legislation exempted from the cap count initial beneficiaries employed by non-profit organizations.
*CIS has reported receiving sufficient applications to reach the ceiling of 65,000 for FY 2005.

American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (PL 105-277) temporarily raised the maximum number of petitions for initial H-1B employment to 115,000 for fiscal years 1999 and 2000.

The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000 (PL 106-311) increased the H-1B annual limit for initial employment to 195,000 for fiscal years 2001, 2002, and 2003. The cap would revert back to 65,000 for FY 2004. When the H-1B1 visa was introduced in 2004, the 6,800 allowable H-1B1 visas were deducted from the total H-1B program. This left 58,200 H-1B visas available per year. On October 1, 2004, the first day of FY 2005, USCIS announced that it had already received enough H-1B petitions to meet the annual cap for FY 2005. Table 3.12 shows the number of H-1B visas issued annually from 1992 through 2005.

The American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 required employers to offer H-1B workers benefits and wages comparable to those offered to U.S. workers. It also imposed on employers a $500 fee per alien hired. The fees were to fund the education and training of U.S. workers. Both the INS and the Labor Department would administer the H-1B program.

The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act increased fees for employers hiring foreign workers under the H-1B program to $1,000 per alien FIGURE 3.10
Countries of birth for persons approved for H-1B visas, 2003
SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 4B. H-1B Petitions Approved by Country of Birth of Beneficiary and Type of Petition (Percent): Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003," in Characteristics of Specialty Occupation Workers (H-1B): Fiscal Year 2003, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, November 2004, http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/repsstudies/h1b/FY03H1BFnlCharRprt.pdf (accessed March 4, 2005) hired plus a $110 filing fee. The $1,000 fees would be used to prepare U.S. workers to fill the jobs for which foreign workers were being recruited by funding job training, scholarships, and grants for mathematics, science, and engineering courses.

The typical 2003 H-1B recipient was thirty-two years old, was born in India (37%), had a bachelor's degree (50%) or higher, worked in a computer-related field (39%), and earned an annual salary of $60,000 (Characteristics of Specialty Occupation Workers (H-1B): Fiscal Year 2003, Washington, DC: Office of Immigration Statistics, U. S. Department of Homeland Security, November 2004). Figure 3.10 shows major source countries for H-1B workers in 2003. As in previous years, India supplied by far the most workers (37%). China was a distant second (9%).

H-1C PROGRAM ASSISTED HOSPITALS.

The Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 (NRDAA) allowed qualifying hospitals to employ temporary foreign workers as registered nurses (RNs) for up to three years under H-1C visas. Only 500 H-1C visas could be issued each year during the four-year period of the H-1C program (2000–2004). The sponsoring employer paid a filing fee of $250 for each application filed with the Labor Department. H-1C nurses were admitted for a period of three years and the law did not provide for an extension of that time frame. The H-1C program expired September 20, 2004.