Office of Immigration Statistics

Policy Directorate

Annual Flow Report aPril 2009

Nonimmigrant Admissions 

to the United States: 2008

ranDall Monger anD MacreaDie Barr

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Nonimmigrants are foreign nationals granted temporary entry into the United States. The major 

purposes for which nonimmigrant admission may be authorized include temporary visits for 

business or pleasure, academic or vocational study, temporary employment, and to act as a 

representative of a foreign government or international organization. The Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) collects information on the characteristics of certain nonimmigrant admissions, 

those recorded on the I-94 Arrival/Departure Record. This Office of Immigration Statistics Annual 

Flow Report presents information gathered from the I-94 on the number and characteristics of 

nonimmigrant admissions to the United States in 2008. 

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During 2008, there were 175 million nonimmigrant 

admissions to the United States according to DHS work

load estimates. These included tourists and business 

travelers from Canada, Mexican nationals with Border 

Crossing Cards, and all admissions requiring the sub

mission of an I-94 form. I-94 admissions accounted for 

23 percent (39 million) of the total admissions. The 

majority (90 percent) of I-94 admissions were shortterm visitors, such as tourists and business travelers, 

while the remaining 10 percent (3.7 million) were tem

porary residents characterized by a longer duration of 

stay, such as specialty workers, students, and nurses (see 

Figure 1 and Table 1). The leading countries of citizen

ship for I-94 admissions were Mexico, the United 

Kingdom, and Japan. 

DeFining “noniMMigrant”

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A nonimmigrant is defined by Section 101(a)(15) of 

the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) as an alien 

who is not an immigrant and is admitted in one of the 

nonimmigrant alien classes of admission. A person 

granted lawful permanent resident status is authorized 

to live, work, and study in the U.S. permanently; con

versely, a nonimmigrant is in a temporary status as a 

visitor or short-term resident for a specific purpose and 

whose activities, such as employment, travel, and 

accompaniment by dependents, are prescribed by his or 

her class of admission. Examples of nonimmigrant 

classes of admission include foreign government offi

cials; temporary visitors for business or pleasure; aliens 

1 In this report, years refer to fiscal years (October 1 to September 30).

2 DHS Customs and Border Protection’s Operations Management Reporting, 

FY2008.

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 Commonly referred to as a legal permanent resident (LPR) or “green card 

recipient.”

Figure 1.

Nonimmigrant Admissions (I-94 Only):

1988 to 2008

Millions

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security,

Fiscal Years 1988 to 2008.

1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

14.0

11.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0

17.0

20.0

23.0

26.0

29.0

32.0

35.0

38.0

41.0

I-94 admissions

Non-resident admissions

Short-term resident admissions
2 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

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in transit; treaty traders and investors; academic and vocational 

students; temporary workers; exchange visitors; athletes and enter

tainers; victims of certain crimes; and family members of U.S. 

citizens, LPRs, and special immigrants. Maximum duration of stay 

is determined by class of admission.

tHe noniMMigrant aDMiSSionS ProceSS

Defining “admissions”

In this report, nonimmigrant admissions refer to number of events 

(i.e., entries into the U.S.) rather than persons. As such, one nonim

migrant may enter the U.S. more than once, and each entry would 

count as a separate admission record. Admission numbers presented 

in this report will differ from the number of Department of State 

visa issuances, which includes all visas that were issued regardless of 

whether the foreign national entered the United States. 

eligibility

In order to qualify for admission in a nonimmigrant status, a for

eign national must meet all of the following criteria: provide 

evidence that the visit will be temporary, agree to depart at the end 

of the authorized stay, possess a valid passport, maintain a foreign 

residence (in most cases), be able to provide proof of financial 

support, be admissible to the U.S. or have been granted a waiver 

for any grounds of inadmissibility, and abide by the terms and 

conditions of admission. 

Documentary requirements

Applicants for nonimmigrant admission are required to complete 

an I-94 form to enter the United States. However, Mexican nation

als with Border Crossing Cards (when traveling within the border 

zone for a limited duration) and tourists and business travelers 

from Canada are generally exempt from the I-94 requirement. 

The Border Crossing Card (BCC) or “laser visa” issued to Mexican 

nationals is a machine-readable card that is valid for 10 years and 

contains a biometric indicator, such as a fingerprint. Applicants for 

a BCC must meet the same qualifications as applicants for a B1/B2 

visa (temporary visitor for business or pleasure), have a valid 

Mexican passport, and demonstrate that they have ties to Mexico 

that would compel them to return. 

i-94 arrival/Departure record admissions. An I-94 form is 

required for all nonimmigrants entering the United States except 

the Canadian and Mexican citizens described above. The remainder 

of this report will focus on I-94 admissions. 

Visa Required 

If a visa is necessary for entry, the foreign national must apply at a 

U.S. embassy or consulate. The Nonimmigrant Visa Application, Form 

DS-156, must be completed and signed for all applicants; further, 

an interview is required for all applicants aged 14 to 79 years. 

Possession of a visa allows a foreign national to travel to a U.S. port 

of entry but does not guarantee admission. A U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection (CBP) officer determines whether the nonim

migrant may enter the U.S. and the permitted duration of stay. 

Foreign nationals with a nonimmigrant visa must complete the 

I-94 form. 

Visa Waiver Program

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) allows nationals from participat

ing countries to travel to the United States as tourists or business 

travelers without a visa for a period not to exceed 90 days. It was 

established, initially as a pilot program, in 1986 with the intent to 

eliminate barriers to travel, to facilitate tourism, and to promote 

better relations with U.S. allies. Qualified nationals of VWPparticipating countries must possess a machine-readable passport 

valid for six months beyond their expected stay, travel on an 

approved carrier and possess a return trip ticket if arriving by air 

or sea, and demonstrate both intent to stay 90 days or less and 

sufficient funds to support themselves during their stay. Nationals 

from VWP countries must obtain a visa if they are traveling to the 

U.S. for a purpose other than tourism or business or if their stay 

will exceed 90 days. Those entering under the VWP must complete 

the I-94W form. 

In 2008, 27 countries participated in the visa waiver program: 

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, 

France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, 

Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, 

Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, 

Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. 

classes of admission 

For the purpose of this report, nonimmigrant classes of admission 

are grouped into the following broad categories based on grounds 

for admission into the United States and expected duration of stay: 

“short-term resident” (herein referred to as residents), “non-resi

dent,” and “expected long-term resident.” This categorization 

differentiates nonimmigrants who live in the United States while 

working or studying from other nonimmigrants. The former are 

usually considered U.S. residents for purposes of official population 

enumeration. Resident nonimmigrant classes of admission include 

temporary workers and trainees, students, treaty traders and inves

tors, intracompany transferees, representatives of foreign media, 

exchange visitors, and others (see Appendix A). Non-resident non

immigrant classes of admission include temporary visitors for 

business or pleasure, foreign nationals in transit through the United 

States, and commuter students. The expected long-term resident cat

egory includes fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens and their children and 

victims of trafficking and abuse. The majority of foreign nationals 

admitted in expected long-term classes are expected to apply for 

and to be granted lawful permanent resident status. 

 A similar visa-free entry program exists for nationals of certain countries seeking admission to 

Guam only—the Guam Visa Waiver Program. In addition to the 27 counties included in the Visa 

Waiver Program, 10 more countries are included in the GVWP: Indonesia, Malaysia, Nauru, Papua 

New Guinea, Samoa, South Korea, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, and Vanuatu. The vast majority of 

GVWP admissions are processed through Agana, Guam.
DHS Office of Immigration Statistics 3

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Data 

The data in this report were obtained from the Treasury Enforcement 

Communications System (TECS) of CBP which compiles and main

tains information collected from nonimmigrants on the I-94 

Arrival/Departure Record. Information collected on the I-94 form 

includes arrival and departure dates, port of entry, class of admis

sion, country of citizenship, state of destination, age, and gender. 

trenDS anD cHaracteriSticS 

oF noniMMigrant aDMiSSionS 

Between 2007 and 2008, I-94 admissions increased 6 percent from 

37.1 million to 39.4 million–the largest number of I-94 admissions 

recorded in a year. Nonimmigrant admissions decreased after 

September 11, 2001, but had recovered to pre-2001 levels by 2006. 

During the 20-year period from 1988 to 2008, the annual number 

of I-94 admissions increased by almost threefold. 

As outlined under the section titled “Classes of Admission,” I-94 

admissions have been divided into resident, non-resident, and 

expected long-term resident categories. Residents accounted for 

between 9 and 10 percent of I-94 admissions in each year from 

2006 to 2008 (see Table 1). During this period, non-residents rep

resented 90 percent of annual I-94 admissions, while expected 

long-term residents accounted for only two-tenths of a percent. 

Resident and non-resident admissions are discussed separately 

below; the expected long-term resident category is not included 

because of low admission numbers. 

table 1. 

nonimmigrant admissions (i-94 only) by category of admission: Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

2008 2007 2006

category of admission number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,381,928 100.0 37,149,651 100.0 33,667,328 100.0

Non-residents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,434,175 90.0 33,301,754 89.6 30,198,154 89.7

 Temporary visitors for pleasure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,442,168 74.8 27,486,177 74.0 24,788,438 73.6

 Temporary visitors for business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,603,668 14.2 5,418,884 14.6 5,030,779 14.9

 Transit aliens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387,237 1.0 396,383 1.1 378,749 1.1

 Commuter students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,102 – 310 – 188 –

Short-term residents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,688,167 9.4 3,566,367 9.6 3,170,056 9.4

 Temporary workers and families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,949,695 5.0 1,932,075 5.2 1,709,268 5.1

 Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917,373 2.3 841,673 2.3 740,724 2.2

 Exchange visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506,138 1.3 489,286 1.3 427,067 1.3

 Diplomats and other representatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314,920 0.8 303,290 0.8 292,846 0.9

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 – 43 – 151 –

Expected long-term residents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,097 0.2 76,158 0.2 76,783 0.2

 Alien fiances of U.S. citizens and children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,863 0.1 38,507 0.1 34,947 0.1

 Alien spouses of U.S. citizens and children, immigrant visa pending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,694 – 18,495 – 18,431 0.1

 Alien spouses of U.S. permanent residents and children, immigrant visa pending . . . . 8,478 – 19,099 0.1 23,348 0.1

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 – 57 – 57 –

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200,489 0.5 205,372 0.6 222,335 0.7

– Represents zero or rounds to 0.0. 

Note: Excludes the majority of short-term admissions from Canada and Mexico. See Appendix A for classes included in each category. 

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008. 

 
4 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

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SHort-terM reSiDent aDMiSSionS 

Resident nonimmigrant admissions increased 3.4 percent from 

3.6 million in 2007 to 3.7 million in 2008, continuing a longterm upward trend (see Figure 1). Resident admissions increased 

each year between 2003 and 2008 (following a post-2001 

decline), for a total increase of 36 percent. From 1988 to 2008, 

the annual number of resident nonimmigrant admissions increased 

by more than threefold. 

class of admission 

The leading resident nonimmigrant categories in 2008 were tem

porary workers and families (53 percent) and students (25 

percent) (see Table 2). These two categories accounted for over 

three-quarters of resident admissions. This composition remained 

relatively unchanged from 2006 to 2008. 

Admissions of temporary workers and trainees declined slightly 

(1.4 percent) from 2007 to 2008. H1B admissions declined 11 

percent from 461,730 in 2007 to 409,619 in 2008. Entries of 

seasonal nonagricultural workers (H2B and H2R) declined 29 per

cent from 154,895 in 2007 to 109,621 in 2008. Student 

admissions rose 9 percent from 2007 to 2008, and 94 percent of 

that increase reflected academic student entries (F1). Entries of 

intracompany transferees (L1) grew 5.3 percent from 2007 to 

2008, and exchange visitor admissions (J1) increased 3.5 percent 

during the same period. 

 Issuances of H2R (returning H2B workers not subject to annual numerical limits) ceased at the 

end of 2007.

table 2. 

Short-term resident nonimmigrant admissions by class of admission: Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

class of admission

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,688,167 100.0 3,566,367 100.0 3,170,056 100.0

Temporary workers and families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,949,695 52.9 1,932,075 54.2 1,709,268 53.9

 Temporary workers and trainees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,101,938 29.9 1,118,138 31.4 985,456 31.1

 Workers in specialty occupations (H1B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409,619 11.1 461,730 12.9 431,853 13.6

 Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreement (H1B1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 – 170 – 129 –

 Registered nurses participating in the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged 

 Areas (H1C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 – 49 – 24 –

 Seasonal agricultural workers (H2A)1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173,103 4.7 87,316 2.4 46,432 1.5

 Seasonal nonagricultural workers and returning H2B workers (H2B,H2R) . . . . . . 109,621 3.0 154,895 4.3 134,071 4.2

 Trainees (H3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,156 0.2 5,540 0.2 4,134 0.1

 Workers with extraordinary ability or achievement and their assistants 

 (O1,O2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,735 1.5 46,533 1.3 41,536 1.3

 Internationally recognized athletes or entertainers (P1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,030 1.5 53,050 1.5 46,205 1.5

 Artists or entertainers in reciprocal exchange or culturally unique programs 

 (P2, P3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,125 0.5 16,735 0.5 17,234 0.5

 Workers in international cultural exchange programs (Q1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,231 0.1 2,412 0.1 2,423 0.1

 Workers in religious occupations (R1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,106 0.7 25,162 0.7 22,706 0.7

 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) professional workers (TN) . . . . . 88,382 2.4 85,142 2.4 73,880 2.3

 Spouses and children of temporary workers and trainees (H4,O3,P4,R2,TD) . . . 158,507 4.3 179,404 5.0 164,829 5.2

 Intracompany transferees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558,485 15.1 531,073 14.9 466,009 14.7

 Intracompany transferees (L1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382,776 10.4 363,536 10.2 320,829 10.1

 Spouses and children of intracompany transferees (L2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175,709 4.8 167,537 4.7 145,180 4.6

 Treaty traders and investors and spouses and children (E1 to E3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243,386 6.6 238,936 6.7 216,842 6.8

 Representatives of foreign media and spouses and children (I1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,886 1.2 43,928 1.2 40,961 1.3

Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917,373 24.9 841,673 23.6 740,724 23.4

 Academic students (F1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859,169 23.3 787,756 22.1 693,805 21.9

 Vocational students (M1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,496 0.4 13,073 0.4 10,384 0.3

 Spouses and children of academic and vocational students (F2,M2) . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,708 1.2 40,844 1.1 36,535 1.2

Exchange visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506,138 13.7 489,286 13.7 427,067 13.5

 Exchange visitors (J1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459,126 12.4 443,482 12.4 385,286 12.2

 Spouses and children of exchange visitors (J2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,012 1.3 45,804 1.3 41,781 1.3

Diplomats and other representatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314,920 8.5 303,290 8.5 292,846 9.2

 Ambassadors, public ministers, career diplomats, consular officers, other foreign 

 government officials and their spouses, children, and attendants (A1 to A3) . . . . . 169,267 4.6 163,476 4.6 158,129 5.0

 Representatives to international organizations and their spouses, children, 

 and attendants (G1 to G5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125,669 3.4 120,926 3.4 117,525 3.7

 NATO officials and their families (N1 to N7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,984 0.5 18,888 0.5 17,192 0.5

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 – 43 – 151 –

– Represents zero or rounds to 0.0. 

1 Between 2006 and 2008, annual increases in H2A admissions may be due to more complete recording of pedestrian admissions along the Southwest border. 

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008. 

 
DHS Office of Immigration Statistics 5

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country of citizenship 

The leading countries of citizenship for resi

dent nonimmigrant admissions to the United 

States in 2008 were Mexico (12 percent), 

India (12 percent), Japan (7 percent), South 

Korea (5.9 percent), and the United Kingdom 

(5.9 percent) (see Table 3). These five coun

tries accounted for more than 40 percent of 

resident nonimmigrant admissions to the 

United States. From 2007 to 2008, notable 

increases in resident nonimmigrant admis

sions occurred among citizens from China 

(19 percent increase), Mexico (16 percent 

increase), and India (5.6 percent increase). 

The increase in admissions from China was 

largely accounted for by academic students 

(F1) and exchange visitors (J1). The increase 

from Mexico was primarily attributable to 

seasonal agricultural workers (H2A). 

Increased admissions from India were con

centrated among academic student (F1) and 

intracompany transferee (L1) classes. Among 

top-ten sending countries, Japan and the 

United Kingdom had declining resident 

admissions from 2007 to 2008. The decrease 

in admissions from the United Kingdom (4.4 

percent decrease) was concentrated among 

workers in specialty occupations (H1B), 

while the decrease from Japan (4.3 percent 

decrease) was attributable to academic stu

dents (F1) and workers in specialty 

occupations (H1B). 

Select classes of admission 

by country of citizenship 

The leading countries of citizenship for H1B 

admissions in 2008 were India (38 percent), 

Canada (5.7 percent), and the United 

Kingdom (4.7 percent) (see Table 4). 

Nationals from these three countries 

accounted for 48 percent of H1B admissions. 

In 2008, leading source countries for L1 

admissions included India (17 percent), the 

United Kingdom (14 percent), and Japan (9.8 

percent) (see Table 4). Forty percent of L1 

admissions were accounted for by nationals 

of these three countries. 

Nearly half of academic student admissions 

(F1) were nationals of five countries: South 

Korea (15 percent), China (11 percent), India 

(9.9 percent), Japan (6.8 percent), and 

Mexico (6.3 percent) (see Table 5). Between 

2006 and 2008, South Korea, China, and 

India showed consistent increases in F1 

admissions, while admissions from Japan 

declined during the same period. 

table 3. 

Short-term resident nonimmigrant admissions by country of citizenship: 

Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

country of citizenship

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,688,167 100.0 3,566,367 100.0 3,170,056 100.0

Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440,099 11.9 378,612 10.6 278,947 8.8

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425,826 11.5 403,106 11.3 309,501 9.8

Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257,401 7.0 268,914 7.5 269,040 8.5

Korea, South . . . . . . . . . . 216,648 5.9 211,013 5.9 186,944 5.9

United Kingdom . . . . . . . . 216,280 5.9 226,262 6.3 217,776 6.9

Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209,125 5.7 209,464 5.9 192,380 6.1

China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163,433 4.4 136,886 3.8 107,902 3.4

Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153,396 4.2 151,690 4.3 142,076 4.5

France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119,284 3.2 115,309 3.2 106,025 3.3

Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,064 2.4 80,695 2.3 73,949 2.3

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,378,438 37.4 1,365,421 38.3 1,268,630 40.0

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,173 0.5 18,995 0.5 16,886 0.5

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications 

System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.

table 4. 

H1B and l1 admissions by country of citizenship: Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

2008 2007 2006

country of citizenship number Percent number Percent number Percent

H1B Admissions, Workers in Specialty Occupations

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409,619 100.0 461,730 100.0 431,853 100.0

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154,726 37.8 157,613 34.1 125,717 29.1

Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,312 5.7 26,209 5.7 24,912 5.8

United Kingdom . . . . . . . . 19,209 4.7 25,507 5.5 28,002 6.5

Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,382 4.0 18,165 3.9 17,654 4.1

China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,828 3.4 16,628 3.6 14,548 3.4

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181,073 44.2 216,343 46.9 219,717 50.9

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,089 0.3 1,265 0.3 1,303 0.3

L1 Admissions, Intracompany Transferees

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382,776 100.0 363,536 100.0 320,829 100.0

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,156 16.5 51,469 14.2 33,414 10.4

United Kingdom . . . . . . . . 52,687 13.8 53,948 14.8 51,352 16.0

Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,507 9.8 36,008 9.9 34,657 10.8

Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,338 6.1 23,514 6.5 22,274 6.9

France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,858 5.7 20,141 5.5 18,128 5.7

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183,631 48.0 177,875 48.9 160,341 50.0

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 0.2 581 0.2 663 0.2

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications 

System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.

table 5. 

F1 academic Student admissions by country of citizenship: 

Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

country of citizenship

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859,169 100.0 787,756 100.0 693,805 100.0

Korea, South . . . . . . . . . . 127,185 14.8 117,446 14.9 101,705 14.7

China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90,290 10.5 67,303 8.5 49,095 7.1

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85,067 9.9 74,276 9.4 59,878 8.6

Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58,081 6.8 64,641 8.2 69,652 10.0

Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,084 6.3 54,836 7.0 33,539 4.8

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439,023 51.1 404,520 51.4 375,368 54.1

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,439 0.6 4,734 0.6 4,568 0.7

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications 

System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.
6 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

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State of Destination and Port of entry 

The most frequent destinations of resident 

nonimmigrant admissions in 2008 were 

California (14 percent), New York (13 per

cent), Texas (7.9 percent), Florida (7.1 

percent), and New Jersey (4.3 percent) (see 

Table 6). These five states represented the des

tinations of nearly 50 percent of foreign 

nationals admitted. 

The majority of resident nonimmigrants were 

admitted through the following ports of 

entry: New York (16 percent), Los Angeles 

(8.1 percent), Chicago (7.9 percent), Newark 

(7.2 percent), Miami (6.5 percent), and 

Washington, D.C. (6.2 percent) (see Table 7). 

In 2008, these six ports represented over half 

(52 percent) of resident admissions. 

age and gender 

In 2008, more than half (55 percent) of resi

dent admissions were accounted for by 

individuals aged 25 to 44 (see Table 8). 

Another 23 percent of admissions were by 

persons aged 18 to 24. The majority (61 per

cent) of resident nonimmigrant admissions 

were males (see Table 8). 

table 6. 

Short-term resident nonimmigrant admissions by State of Destination: 

Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

State of destination

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,688,167 100.0 3,566,367 100.0 3,170,056 100.0

California . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525,788 14.3 510,887 14.3 455,070 14.4

New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490,386 13.3 477,225 13.4 431,220 13.6

Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292,340 7.9 293,897 8.2 237,928 7.5

Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262,459 7.1 272,923 7.7 250,131 7.9

New Jersey . . . . . . . . . . . 157,601 4.3 157,535 4.4 136,670 4.3

Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152,721 4.1 77,157 2.2 47,688 1.5

Massachusetts . . . . . . . . 145,459 3.9 141,527 4.0 128,498 4.1

Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125,994 3.4 122,735 3.4 108,279 3.4

Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113,609 3.1 115,695 3.2 105,900 3.3

Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104,919 2.8 101,397 2.8 93,077 2.9

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,248,623 33.9 1,223,962 34.3 1,106,070 34.9

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,268 1.9 71,427 2.0 69,525 2.2

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications 

System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.

table 7. 

Short-term resident admissions by Port of entry: Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

Port of entry

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,688,167 100.0 3,566,367 100.0 3,170,056 100.0

New York, NY . . . . . . . . . . 605,002 16.4 592,907 16.6 527,021 16.6

Los Angeles, CA . . . . . . . . 300,063 8.1 305,214 8.6 285,905 9.0

Chicago, IL . . . . . . . . . . . . 289,966 7.9 294,245 8.3 260,281 8.2

Newark, NJ . . . . . . . . . . . 263,718 7.2 238,384 6.7 210,243 6.6

Miami, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240,484 6.5 258,050 7.2 245,525 7.7

Washington, DC . . . . . . . . 229,028 6.2 214,178 6.0 191,854 6.1

San Francisco, CA . . . . . . 216,781 5.9 203,232 5.7 174,556 5.5

Atlanta, GA . . . . . . . . . . . 174,668 4.7 166,283 4.7 157,626 5.0

Houston, TX . . . . . . . . . . . 148,018 4.0 139,344 3.9 120,215 3.8

Detroit, MI . . . . . . . . . . . . 115,672 3.1 115,200 3.2 108,165 3.4

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,091,426 29.6 1,030,104 28.9 883,857 27.9

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,341 0.4 9,226 0.3 4,808 0.2

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications 

System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.

table 8. 

Short-term resident nonimmigrant admissions by age and gender: Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

age

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,688,167 100.0 3,566,367 100.0 3,170,056 100.0

Under 18 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300,021 8.1 297,342 8.3 268,941 8.5

18 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862,766 23.4 790,955 22.2 674,135 21.3

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,290,337 35.0 1,263,655 35.4 1,127,800 35.6

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737,357 20.0 730,876 20.5 658,364 20.8

45 to 54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345,682 9.4 334,716 9.4 302,901 9.6

55 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120,250 3.3 118,118 3.3 110,349 3.5

65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,059 0.7 26,257 0.7 22,858 0.7

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,695 0.1 4,448 0.1 4,708 0.1

gender

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,688,167 100.0 3,566,367 100.0 3,170,056 100.0

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,248,999 61.0 2,176,405 61.0 1,930,791 60.9

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,399,042 37.9 1,350,849 37.9 1,205,709 38.0

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,126 1.1 39,113 1.1 33,556 1.1

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.
DHS Office of Immigration Statistics 7

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-

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non-reSiDent aDMiSSionS 

Trends in non-resident admissions paralleled trends in both resi

dent admissions and total I-94 admissions. Non-resident 

admissions increased 6.4 percent from 33.3 million in 2007 to 

35.4 million in 2008 (see Figure 1). Admissions declined follow

ing September 11, 2001, but subsequently increased each year 

between 2003 and 2008. In 2008, non-resident admissions sur

passed previous peaks observed in 2000 and 2007. During the 

20-year period from 1988 to 2008, annual non-resident admis

sions increased almost threefold. 

class of admission 

The leading non-resident nonimmigrant categories in 2008 were 

temporary visitors for pleasure (83 percent) and temporary visi

tors for business (16 percent) (see Table 9). These categories 

accounted for nearly all non-resident admissions. Admissions of 

temporary visitors for pleasure increased 7.1 percent from 2007 

to 2008 largely due to a 12 percent increase in tourist (WT) 

admissions under the Visa Waiver Program. 

country of citizenship 

In 2008, the leading countries of citizenship for non-resident 

admissions were Mexico (19 percent), the United Kingdom (15 

percent), Japan (10 percent), and Germany (5.5 percent) (see 

Table 10). These four countries accounted for the citizenship of 

half of all non-resident admissions. Between 2007 and 2008, the 

largest increases occurred among nationals of Italy (23 percent 

increase), France (22 percent), the Netherlands (19 percent), 

Germany (17 percent), and Brazil (15 percent). Nonresident 

admissions from Japan decreased 5.3 percent, and admissions 

from Mexico decreased 2.6 percent. 

table 9. 

non-resident nonimmigrant admissions by class of admission: Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

class of admission

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,434,175 100.0 33,301,754 100.0 30,198,154 100.0

Temporary visitors for pleasure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,442,168 83.1 27,486,177 82.5 24,788,438 82.1

 Temporary visitors for pleasure (B2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,371,671 37.7 13,087,974 39.3 11,269,933 37.3

 Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure (WT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,099,059 42.6 13,469,851 40.4 12,827,677 42.5

 Guam Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure to Guam (GT) . . . . . . . . 971,438 2.7 928,352 2.8 690,828 2.3

Temporary visitors for business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,603,668 15.8 5,418,884 16.3 5,030,779 16.7

 Temporary visitors for business (B1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,052,581 8.6 2,928,875 8.8 2,673,309 8.9

 Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business (WB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,546,322 7.2 2,486,015 7.5 2,355,332 7.8

 Guam Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business to Guam (GB) . . . . . . . . 4,765 – 3,994 0.0 2,138 –

Transit aliens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387,237 1.1 396,383 1.2 378,749 1.3

 Aliens in continuous and immediate transit through the United States (C1) . . . . . . . . 365,958 1.0 376,451 1.1 357,682 1.2

 Aliens in transit to the United Nations (C2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,646 0.0 2,914 – 2,854 –

 Foreign government officials, their spouses, children, and attendants in transit (C3) . . . 18,633 0.1 17,018 0.1 18,213 0.1

Commuter Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,102 – 310 – 188 –

 Canadian or Mexican national academic commuter students (F3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,102 – 307 – 188 –

 Canadian or Mexican national vocational commuter students (M3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – 3 – – –

– Represents zero or rounds to 0.0. 

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008. 

 

table 10. 

non-resident nonimmigrant admissions by country of citizenship: Fiscal years 2006 to 2008

country of citizenship

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,434,175 100.0 33,301,754 100.0 30,198,154 100.0

Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,799,974 19.2 6,978,277 21.0 5,822,011 19.3

United Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,245,691 14.8 4,888,077 14.7 4,716,936 15.6

Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,647,282 10.3 3,851,493 11.6 4,036,212 13.4

Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,964,919 5.5 1,686,278 5.1 1,560,568 5.2

France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,586,159 4.5 1,294,853 3.9 1,082,521 3.6

Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,031,901 2.9 837,921 2.5 709,409 2.3

Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806,069 2.3 753,482 2.3 695,696 2.3

Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798,877 2.3 696,962 2.1 619,173 2.1

Korea, South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787,789 2.2 813,707 2.4 752,321 2.5

Netherlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785,486 2.2 658,090 2.0 597,146 2.0

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,880,832 33.5 10,764,044 32.3 9,533,740 31.6

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99,196 0.3 78,570 0.2 72,421 0.2

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.
8 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

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State of Destination and Port of entry 

The primary destination states for non-resi

dent admissions in 2008 were California (17 

percent), Florida (16 percent), New York (14 

percent), and Texas (7 percent) (see Table 11). 

These four states accounted for the destina

tions of more than half of non-resident 

admissions. The greatest percentage increases 

in admissions from 2007 to 2008 among 

leading destination states include New York 

(18 percent increase), Florida (11 percent), 

Nevada (10 percent), and New Jersey (10 

percent). During the same period, admissions 

to Hawaii declined 5 percent, and admissions 

to Guam declined 3.4 percent. 

The leading ports of entry for non-resident 

admissions in 2008 were New York, NY (13 

percent), Miami, FL (11 percent), and Los 

Angeles, CA (9.2 percent) (see Table 12). 

These three ports of entry accounted for onethird of non-resident admissions. Newark, NJ 

admissions increased 18 percent and New 

York, NY admissions increased 15 percent 

between 2007 and 2008, while entries 

through Honolulu, HI and Agana, Guam 

decreased 7.9 percent and 4.1 percent 

respectively. 

age and gender 

In 2008, 60 percent of non-resident admis

sions consisted of foreign nationals aged 25 

to 54, an additional 20 percent were aged 55 

and over, and 11 percent were under the age 

of 18 (see Table 13). More than half (52 per

cent) of all non-resident admissions were 

accounted for by males (see Table 13).

table 11. 

non-resident nonimmigrant admissions by State or territory of Destination: 

Fiscal years 2006 to 2008

State or territory of 

destination

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,434,175 100.0 33,301,754 100.0 30,198,154 100.0

California . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,031,526 17.0 5,703,600 17.1 5,080,270 16.8

Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,663,642 16.0 5,088,441 15.3 4,641,861 15.4

New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,068,048 14.3 4,290,067 12.9 3,789,639 12.5

Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,498,049 7.0 2,510,085 7.5 2,196,467 7.3

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,492,252 4.2 1,570,786 4.7 1,635,475 5.4

Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,266,055 3.6 1,145,997 3.4 1,038,794 3.4

Guam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,097,729 3.1 1,136,430 3.4 1,120,128 3.7

Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844,779 2.4 851,068 2.6 715,505 2.4

New Jersey . . . . . . . . . . . 793,265 2.2 719,617 2.2 628,710 2.1

Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791,067 2.2 766,826 2.3 675,847 2.2

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,280,978 17.7 5,975,043 17.9 5,373,158 17.8

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,606,785 10.2 3,543,794 10.6 3,302,300 10.9

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications 

System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.

table 12. 

non-resident nonimmigrant admissions by Port of entry: Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

Port of entry

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,434,175 100.0 33,301,754 100.0 30,198,154 100.0

New York, NY . . . . . . . . . . 4,629,008 13.1 4,008,426 12.0 3,514,016 11.6

Miami, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,948,711 11.1 3,683,012 11.1 3,322,930 11.0

Los Angeles, CA . . . . . . . . 3,261,624 9.2 3,128,031 9.4 3,093,563 10.2

Newark, NJ . . . . . . . . . . . 2,039,448 5.8 1,722,097 5.2 1,511,231 5.0

San Francisco, CA . . . . . . 1,528,872 4.3 1,402,755 4.2 1,275,961 4.2

Chicago, IL . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,480,715 4.2 1,419,825 4.3 1,322,232 4.4

Atlanta, GA . . . . . . . . . . . 1,376,402 3.9 1,248,063 3.7 1,080,704 3.6

Honolulu, HI . . . . . . . . . . . 1,375,797 3.9 1,493,513 4.5 1,555,247 5.2

Agana, Guam . . . . . . . . . . 1,131,290 3.2 1,179,431 3.5 1,194,678 4.0

Houston, TX . . . . . . . . . . . 1,078,927 3.0 1,040,405 3.1 919,575 3.0

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,502,063 38.1 12,924,467 38.8 11,368,869 37.6

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,318 0.2 51,729 0.2 39,148 0.1

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications 

System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.

table 13. 

non-resident nonimmigrant admissions by age and gender: 

Fiscal years 2006 to 2008 

age

2008 2007 2006

number Percent number Percent number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,434,175 100.0 33,301,754 100.0 30,198,154 100.0

Under 18 years . . . . . . . . 3,915,961 11.1 3,697,774 11.1 3,407,236 11.3

18 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . 2,854,680 8.1 2,667,267 8.0 2,407,425 8.0

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . 7,417,159 20.9 7,008,076 21.0 6,425,006 21.3

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . 7,729,140 21.8 7,294,564 21.9 6,573,291 21.8

45 to 54 years . . . . . . . . . 6,251,620 17.6 5,768,270 17.3 5,147,325 17.0

55 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . 4,458,913 12.6 4,189,264 12.6 3,812,572 12.6

65 years and over . . . . . . 2,768,166 7.8 2,628,329 7.9 2,378,311 7.9

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,536 0.1 48,210 0.1 46,988 0.2

gender

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,434,175 100.0 33,301,754 100.0 30,198,154 100.0

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,333,371 51.7 17,318,208 52.0 15,757,616 52.2

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,411,843 46.3 15,394,391 46.2 13,995,808 46.3

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688,961 1.9 589,155 1.8 444,730 1.5

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Treasury Enforcement Communications 

System (TECS), Arrival File, Fiscal Years 2006 to 2008.
DHS Office of Immigration Statistics 9

Appendix A. 

Nonimmigrant Classes of Admission

Class Description

Non-residents

 Temporary visitors for pleasure

B2. . . . . . . . . . Temporary visitors for pleasure

WT. . . . . . . . . . Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure

GT. . . . . . . . . . . Guam Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for pleasure to Guam

 Temporary visitors for business

B1 . . . . . . . . . . Temporary visitors for business

WB . . . . . . . . . . Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business

GB . . . . . . . . . . Guam Visa Waiver Program – temporary visitors for business to Guam 

 Transit aliens

C1. . . . . . . . . . Aliens in continuous and immediate transit through the United States

C2. . . . . . . . . . Aliens in transit to the United Nations 

C3. . . . . . . . . . Foreign government officials, their spouses, children, and attendants in transit

 Commuter students

F3. . . . . . . . . . . Canadian or Mexican national academic commuter students

M3. . . . . . . . . . Canadian or Mexican national vocational commuter students

Short-term Residents

 Temporary workers and families

 Temporary workers and trainees

H1B. . . . . . . . . Workers in specialty occupations

H1B1. . . . . . . . Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreement aliens

H1C. . . . . . . . . Registered nurses participating in the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas

H2A. . . . . . . . . Seasonal agricultural workers

H2B. . . . . . . . . Seasonal nonagricultural workers

H2R. . . . . . . . . Returning H2B workers

H3. . . . . . . . . . Trainees

H4. . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of H1, H2, or H3

O1. . . . . . . . . . Workers with extraordinary ability or achievement

O2. . . . . . . . . . Workers accompanying and assisting in performance of O1 workers

O3. . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of O1 and O2

P1. . . . . . . . . . . Internationally recognized athletes or entertainers

P2. . . . . . . . . . . Artists or entertainers in reciprocal exchange programs

P3. . . . . . . . . . . Artists or entertainers in culturally unique programs

P4. . . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of P1, P2, or P3

Q1. . . . . . . . . . Workers in international cultural exchange programs

R1. . . . . . . . . . Workers in religious occupations

R2. . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of R1

TN. . . . . . . . . . . North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) professional workers

TD. . . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of TN

 Intracompany transferees

L1. . . . . . . . . . . Intracompany transferees

L2. . . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of L1

 Treaty traders and investors

E1. . . . . . . . . . . Treaty traders and their spouses and children

E2. . . . . . . . . . . Treaty investors and their spouses and children

E3. . . . . . . . . . . Australian Free Trade Agreement principals, spouses and children

 Representatives of foreign information media

I1. . . . . . . . . . . Representatives of foreign information media and spouses and children

 Students

F1. . . . . . . . . . . Academic students

F2. . . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of F1

M1. . . . . . . . . . Vocational students

M2 . . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of M1

 Exchange visitors

J1. . . . . . . . . . . Exchange visitors

J2. . . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of J1
10 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

Appendix A. 

Nonimmigrant Classes of Admission

Class Description

 Diplomats and other representatives

A1. . . . . . . . . . . Ambassadors, public ministers, career diplomatic or consular officers and their families

A2. . . . . . . . . . . Other foreign government officials or employees and their families

A3. . . . . . . . . . . Attendants, servants, or personal employees of A1 and A2 and their families

G1. . . . . . . . . . Principals of recognized foreign governments 

G2. . . . . . . . . . Other representatives of recognized foreign governments 

G3. . . . . . . . . . Representatives of nonrecognized or nonmember foreign governments

G4. . . . . . . . . . International organization officers or employees

G5. . . . . . . . . . Attendants, servants, or personal employees of representatives

N1 to N7. . . . . . North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials, spouses, and children

 Other categories

Q2. . . . . . . . . . Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program aliens 

Q3. . . . . . . . . . Spouses and children of Q2

Expected Long-term Residents

 Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act

K1. . . . . . . . . . Fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens

K2. . . . . . . . . . Children of K1

K3. . . . . . . . . . Spouses of U.S. citizens, immigrant visa pending

K4. . . . . . . . . . Children of K3, immigrant visa pending

V1 to V3. . . . . . Spouses and children of permanent residents, immigrant visa pending

 Other categories

N8. . . . . . . . . . Parents of international organization special immigrants

N9. . . . . . . . . . Children of N8 or international organization special immigrants

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

– Continued