Office of Immigration Statistics

POLICY DIRECTORATE

Estimates of the Resident Nonimmigrant 

Population in the United States: 2008

BRYAN C. BAKER

INTRODUCTION

This report presents estimates on the size and characteristics of the resident nonimmigrant 

population in the United States in 2008.1 The estimates were based on administrative records of the 

Department of Homeland Security using a modified version of the method employed in previous 

DHS estimates (Grieco, 2006). The term resident nonimmigrant as used in this report refers to foreign 

nationals who are legally admitted into the United States for specific, temporary purposes and 

whose classes of admission are associated with long stays. The estimates are shown by category of 

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

In summary, the average daily population of resident 

nonimmigrants in the United States in 20081is estimated to have been 1.83 million. One-half were 

temporary workers and their families, and one-half 

were from Asian countries.

DATA AND METHOD

Data were obtained from U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection of DHS which compiles and maintains information collected from nonimmigrants on the I-94 

Arrival/Departure Record. This information includes 

arrival and departure dates, port of entry, class of admission, country of citizenship, state of destination, age, 

and gender. A unique 11-digit admission number is 

preprinted on both the arrival and departure portion of 

the I-94 form. Classes of admission included in resident 

categories are shown in Appendix 1; this delineation of 

resident classes is also used in Office of Immigration 

Statistics (OIS) annual reports on nonimmigrant admissions (see Monger and Barr, 2010). 

The estimates were calculated using arrival records for 

2001–2008 and departure records for 2008. Arrivals 

for 2001–2008 are assumed to be complete because of 

the relatively controlled environment of the admission 

process. Departure data, however, are likely less complete: Processes and procedures for collecting 

departure forms are not consistently available for all 

modes of departure, and departure forms may be misplaced or lost by nonimmigrant travelers. Further, 

nonimmigrants may have transitioned to legal permanent resident (LPR) status, or visits may be ongoing.

Estimation Procedure

The method estimates the length of each resident nonimmigrant visit in order to calculate the departure date. 

The sum of the number of days present in 2008, 

divided by 366,2

 provides the resident nonimmigrant 

population estimate.

Step 1—Creating visit records for 2008 departures. Departures in 

2008 were matched with I-94 arrivals from 2001–

2008. Arrival and departure records were paired 

together whenever the 11-digit admission number, the 

first initial of the last name, and date of birth fields were 

identical on the two records. Approximately 97 percent 

of the 2.8 million departure records from 2008 were 

successfully matched with a prior arrival record from 

2001–2008. 

Step 2—Calculating the average visit length. The length of each 

visit for visits created in Step 1 was calculated by subtracting the arrival date from the departure date. For 

example, the length of a visit originating on October 1 

and ending on October 30 of the same year would have 

been 30–1 = 29 days. Visits starting and ending on the 

same day were assigned a duration of one day. Once 

visit lengths had been determined for each matched 

arrival and departure, average visit lengths were calculated by class of admission and country of origin.

Step 3—Estimating the departure date. Departure dates were estimated for all 2001–2008 arrivals by adding the average 

visit length to the arrival date at the class of admission 

and country of citizenship level. 

1 In this report, year refers to fiscal year (October 1 to September 30).

2 The number of days in Fiscal Year 2008.
2 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

Step 4—Estimating presence in 2008. The estimated number of days of 

presence during 2008 was calculated for each visit record based 

on the actual arrival date and estimated departure date. 

Step 5—Estimating the daily average. The estimated daily average population was calculated by dividing the estimated number of days of 

presence during the year by the number of days in the year.

Variable Selection in the Matching Process 

The use of record matching error-control criteria (first initial of 

last name and date of birth) reduced the probability of false 

matches but did so at the expense of “possible matches,” i.e., 

records with matching admission numbers but with inconsistencies in the date of birth or first initial of last name. Because the 

number of possibly falsely rejected matches was very low (about 

20,000 out of 2.8 million departure records), the error-control 

criteria were not modified to reduce the probability of 

false rejection. 

Current versus Previous Method

Using the previous method, the daily average population for a 

given year was calculated by multiplying the visit length estimate 

by the number of arrivals recorded that same year and dividing by 

365.25. This approach, while simpler computationally than the 

current method, implicitly assumed a balance between a) portions 

of visits extending beyond the given year (included in the population estimate) and b) portions of visits which ended during the 

given year but began in previous years (not included in the estimate). The assumption is violated if the number of arrivals changes 

substantially from one year to the next, due, for example, to 

changes in economic conditions in the U.S. or abroad. The current 

method avoids the need to make assumptions about earlier arrivals 

by using actual arrival records from prior years. 

Limitations and Assumptions

Visit length. The average visit lengths by class of admission and country of citizenship were assumed to be the same across all years of 

departure.

Adequacy of visit time window. It is unlikely that nonimmigrants present 

in 2008 arrived prior to 2001. Of the total 2–4 million resident 

nonimmigrant arrivals per year in 2001–2008, departure rates for 

complete visit records followed an exponential decay model with 

rates falling below 1 percent by the 4th or 5th year.

Adjustment to LPR status. Some visits may be concluded by the adjustment from nonimmigrant to legal permanent resident (LPR) status 

and therefore may not have I-94 departure records. Those visits do 

not contribute to the average visit length estimates, but are 

assumed to have the same average lengths as visits that end with 

a departure.

Transition between nonimmigrant classes of admission. In the absence of information on changes, class of admission was assumed to remain 

constant throughout the course of the visit. 

Estimation required for all departure dates. Estimating all departure dates 

avoids the selective underestimation of departure dates for 

categories of nonimmigrants with longer visits, although at the 

expense of making direct use of all existing data. Using the alternative, estimating departure dates only when a departure record 

could not be found, means that average visit lengths would be 

used disproportionately for longer visits, since all else equal, such 

visits are more likely to continue through the end of 2008.

ESTIMATES

Category of Admission

The average daily population of resident nonimmigrants in the 

United States in 2008 is estimated to have been 1.83 million. 

Nonimmigrant categories of admission include temporary workers, students, exchange visitors, and diplomats and other 

representatives; each category includes both principal nonimmigrants and dependent (non-principal) family members. Slightly 

more than half (0.93 million) of the 1.83 million nonimmigrants 

were temporary workers and families, about one third (0.59 million) were students and families, 13 percent (0.24 million) were 

exchange visitors and families, and 4 percent (0.07 million) were 

diplomats, other representatives, and families (see Table 1). 

Estimates for students and exchange visitor principals are consistent with those from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information 

System (SEVIS) of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of 

DHS (see Appendix 2). 

Region and Country of Citizenship

Slightly more than half (53 percent) of resident nonimmigrants 

were citizens of Asian countries, including India (22 percent), 

South Korea (8 percent), China (7 percent), Japan (6 percent), 

and Taiwan (2 percent) (see Table 2). Europe and North America 

comprised another 17 percent each, lead by Canada (8 percent) 

and Mexico (7 percent). The five leading countries accounted for 

over 50 percent of the total.

Estimates using Previous Method

Use of the current method provides a total resident nonimmigrant 

population estimate that is similar to the estimate provided by the 

previous method (see Table 3). Differences in estimates by category 

of admission and country of citizenship were generally small. 

State of Destination

The leading states of destination were California (0.28 million), 

New York (0.21 million), Texas (0.14 million), Florida (0.11 million), and New Jersey (0.10 million) (see Table 4). Approximately 

one half (47 percent) of the population lived in the 5 leading states.

Age and Gender

Twenty-six percent of resident nonimmigrants were ages 18 to 

24, and 55 percent were ages 25 to 44 (see Table 5). Slightly more 

than half (56 percent) were male. 

NEXT STEPS

The estimates will be updated annually. Efforts will be made to 

develop estimates for selected subpopulations of interest.
DHS Office of Immigration Statistics 3

Table 1. 

Nonimmigrant Population by Category of Admission: 

Fiscal Year 2008

Estimate

Category of admission Number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,830,000 100

Temporary workers and families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930,000 51

Students and families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590,000 32

Exchange visitors and families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240,000 13

Diplomats, other representatives, and families . . . . . . . . 70,000 4

Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Table 2. 

Nonimmigrant Population by Region and Country of Citizenship: 

Fiscal Year 2008

Estimate

Region/country of citizenship Number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,830,000 100

Region

Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000 3

Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 970,000 53

Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320,000 17

North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310,000 17

South America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,000 6

All others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,000 4

Country of citizenship

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400,000 22

Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150,000 8

Korea, South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,000 8

China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120,000 7

Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120,000 6

Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110,000 6

All others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780,000 43

Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Table 3. 

Comparison of Current and Previous Nonimmigrant Population Estimates by Category of Admission and Country of Citizenship: 

Fiscal Year 2008

Current Previous*

Category of admission/country of citizenship Estimate Estimate

Difference from current

Number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,830,000 1,830,000 0 0

Category of admission

Temporary workers and families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930,000 900,000 –30,000 –3

Students and families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590,000 620,000 30,000 5

Exchange visitors and families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240,000 240,000 0 0

Diplomats, other representatives, and families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,000 70,000 0 0

Country of citizenship

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400,000 410,000 10,000 2

Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150,000 150,000 0 –3

Korea, South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,000 140,000 0 3

China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120,000 140,000 20,000 13

Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120,000 110,000 -–10,000 –9

Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110,000 110,000 0 –4

All others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780,000 780,000 0 0

*Using 8 years of arrival data.

Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Table 4. 

Nonimmigrant Population by State of Destination: 

Fiscal Year 2008

Estimate

State of destination Number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,830,000 100

California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280,000 15

New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210,000 12

Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,000 8

Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110,000 6

New Jersey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,000 5

All others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 980,000 53

Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Table 5. 

Nonimmigrant Population by Age and Gender: Fiscal Year 2008

Estimate

Characteristic Number Percent

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,830,000 100

Age

Under 18 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190,000 10

18 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470,000 26

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710,000 39

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290,000 16

45 to 54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120,000 6

55 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000 3

Gender

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,020,000 56

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790,000 43

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,000 1

Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
4 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

APPENDIX 1

Resident Nonimmigrant Class of Admission Categories

Class Description

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

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

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
DHS Office of Immigration Statistics 

APPENDIX 2

Foreign Student and Exchange Visitor Estimates— 

OIS versus SEVIS

The daily average population estimates for students and exchange 

visitor principals were 550,000 and 200,000, respectively, compared to 700,000 and 200,000, respectively from SEVIS data. The 

larger SEVIS estimates reflect a count of “active” participants, 

which does not imply continuous presence in the United States 

throughout the year. For example, continuing students may retain 

active status while abroad for up to 90 days. Furthermore, the status of dependents is based on the status of the principal and does 

not imply presence in the United States at any point in time.

SEVIS Population Estimates: Fiscal Year 2008

Class of admission

Population estimate

SEVIS* OIS

Student (F, M) Principal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700,000 550,000

Dependent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80,000 40,000

Exchange visitor (J) Principal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200,000 200,000

Dependent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000 40,000

*The SEVIS population estimate is an estimate of active participants and is calculated by taking the 

average of 4 quarterly point-in-time estimates (see SEVIS by the Numbers).

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In addition, according to a survey by the Institute of International 

Education (IIE), there were approximately 624,000 international 

students enrolled in accredited colleges and universities in the U.S. 

during the 2007/2008 school year (Open Doors 2008). The universe for the IIE estimate, however, is similar but not identical to 

those for either the OIS or SEVIS estimates.

REFERENCES

Grieco, Elizabeth, 2006. “Estimates of the Nonimmigrant 

Population in the United States: 2004,” Office of Immigration 

Statistics, Policy Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security.

Monger, Randall and MacReadie Barr, 2010. “Nonimmigrant 

Admissions to the United States: 2009,” Office of Immigration 

Statistics, Policy Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security, http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/ 

publications/OIS_NI_FR_2009.pdf

“Open Doors 2008 Fast Facts,” web publication, Institute of 

International Education, http://www.opendoors.iienetwork.org/

file_depot/0-10000000/0-10000/3390/folder/68485/ 

Open+ Doors+Fast+Facts+2008.pdf

“SEVIS By the Numbers,” quarterly web publications, Student 

and Exchange Visitor Program, Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Q1, Q2, 

Q3, and Q4 reports for fiscal year 2008.

5