US refusal rates are published, but they are not what most readers think they are. The State Department's adjusted refusal rate covers B visitor visas only, is measured by nationality rather than by person, and exists to police a statutory three per cent threshold. FY2025 figures run from under 3% to 100%. Here is what each number actually measures.
US Visas
US Visa Rejection Rate by Country: FY2025 Refusal Data Explained
What Do the Official US Refusal Figures Actually Measure?
The State Department publishes one country-level refusal table each year: the adjusted refusal rate for B visitor visas by nationality. It covers B-1 and B-2 applications only, strips out refusals later overcome, and is used to test eligibility for the Visa Waiver Program. A separate workload table reports raw issuances and refusals for every visa class worldwide, with no country breakdown.
Two different tables produce two different sets of numbers, and confusing them is the single most common error in coverage of US refusal data. Neither table tells an individual applicant what their own chances are. Both are useful, but only once you know what each one counts and what it deliberately leaves out.
Two Different Refusal Rates, Two Different Numbers
The adjusted refusal rate is nationality-based and B-visa only. It adjusts for applicants who were refused during the year and later satisfied the officer, so a case that ended in issuance no longer counts against the country. The worldwide workload table does the opposite: it counts every refusal recorded in the fiscal year, including refusals that were subsequently overcome, and reports it by visa class rather than by country.
That is why the same route can appear to have two rates. On the FY2024 workload figures, B-1/B-2 applications produced roughly 27.8% refusals worldwide. The adjusted country table for the same period shows most large applicant nations well below that, because the adjusted method removes cases that ultimately succeeded.
Why the Adjusted Rate Exists: the Three Per Cent Threshold
The adjusted rate is not published as consumer information. It is a compliance measure. To be designated for the Visa Waiver Program, a country must have, among other criteria, a visitor visa refusal rate of "less than three percent" for initial designation, as the State Department programme page puts it. The table exists so that threshold can be applied consistently each year.
Which Countries Have the Highest Refusal Rates?
The FY2025 table is dominated by low-volume posts and by countries where consular capacity, documentation standards and onward migration pressure all point the same way. The fifteen highest adjusted rates were as follows.
Highest Adjusted B-Visa Refusal Rates, FY2025
| Nationality | Adjusted refusal rate |
|---|---|
| Federated States of Micronesia | 100.00% |
| Laos | 84.35% |
| Somalia | 83.52% |
| Palau | 80.00% |
| South Sudan | 76.09% |
| The Gambia | 75.29% |
| Guinea-Bissau | 75.17% |
| Senegal | 73.96% |
| Liberia | 73.01% |
| Togo | 72.02% |
| Burkina Faso | 71.25% |
| Cuba | 70.86% |
| Sierra Leone | 70.55% |
| Nepal | 69.47% |
| Burundi | 69.23% |
Source: US Department of State, Adjusted Refusal Rate — B-Visas Only by Nationality, Fiscal Year 2025.
Small Denominators Distort the Top of the Table
Micronesia and Palau are Compact of Free Association states whose citizens do not normally need a visitor visa at all. The handful of B applications their nationals file each year are, almost by definition, unusual cases. A 100.00% rate on a very small number of applications says nothing about how a typical traveller from that country is treated at the border.
The same caution applies to any country near the top with a tiny applicant pool. The rate is a ratio, not a volume, and the table does not publish the denominator alongside it. Treat the very highest entries as signals about who applies, not about how harshly each application is judged.
Where Visa Issuance Is Suspended Outright
Refusal rates are a separate question from eligibility to be issued at all. Under Presidential Proclamation 10998, effective 1 January 2026, visa issuance is fully suspended for nationals of nineteen countries across all immigrant and nonimmigrant categories, and partially suspended for a further group covering B-1/B-2, F, M and J visas plus all immigrant visas.
A national rate is an aggregate of thousands of unrelated decisions, each turning on that applicant's own circumstances. It is not a probability that attaches to you. Two people of the same nationality interviewing on the same morning can be treated entirely differently on the strength of their ties, their travel history and their documents. Use the tables to understand the system, never to predict your own outcome.
Which Countries Have the Lowest Refusal Rates?
At the other end of the FY2025 table sit small, wealthy states and Gulf countries whose nationals rarely present the profile that triggers a refusal under section 214(b). Several are also Visa Waiver Program members, so the few who do apply for a B visa usually have a specific reason.
Lowest Adjusted B-Visa Refusal Rates, FY2025
| Nationality | Adjusted refusal rate |
|---|---|
| Liechtenstein | 0.00% |
| Monaco | 0.00% |
| Vatican City | 0.00% |
| United Arab Emirates | 2.17% |
| Cyprus | 2.55% |
| Uruguay | 2.59% |
| Oman | 3.14% |
| Kiribati | 4.50% |
| Tuvalu | 4.55% |
| Bulgaria | 5.11% |
| Iceland | 5.43% |
| Japan | 5.68% |
| Saudi Arabia | 5.98% |
| Kuwait | 6.06% |
| Panama | 6.51% |
Source: US Department of State, Adjusted Refusal Rate — B-Visas Only by Nationality, Fiscal Year 2025.
Why a Zero Per Cent Rate Can Mean Nothing At All
The table carries an explicit footnote on this point. A 0.00% rate can mean either that every B application adjudicated for that nationality ended the year issued, including cases refused and later overcome, or that no B applications were adjudicated for that nationality at all. The published figure does not distinguish between the two, so a zero should never be read as evidence of a generous post.
How Refusal Rates Vary by Visa Category
Country tables cover visitors only. To compare routes, you need the worldwide workload table, which reports issuances and refusals for every nonimmigrant class. The FY2024 edition is the most recent published. The rates below are calculated from its raw counts and therefore include refusals later overcome.
Worldwide Refusals by Visa Class, FY2024
| Visa class | Issued / refused | Refused share |
|---|---|---|
| All nonimmigrant visas | 10,969,936 / 3,276,033 | 23.0% |
| B-1/B-2 visitor | 6,498,004 / 2,497,104 | 27.8% |
| F-1 student | 400,737 / 278,553 | 41.0% |
| F-2 student dependant | 24,055 / 22,912 | 48.8% |
| M-1 vocational student | 6,322 / 2,237 | 26.1% |
| J-1 exchange visitor | 322,820 / 39,747 | 11.0% |
| H-1B specialty occupation | 219,659 / 6,298 | 2.8% |
| H-2A agricultural | 315,328 / 12,800 | 3.9% |
| L-1 intra-company transfer | 71,799 / 2,914 | 3.9% |
| O-1 extraordinary ability | 19,457 / 1,212 | 5.9% |
Source: US Department of State, Worldwide NIV Workload by Visa Category, FY2024. Percentages calculated from the published counts.
Why Student Rates Look Brutal and Work Rates Look Easy
F-1 applicants face the same presumption of immigrant intent as visitors, with weaker evidence to rebut it: young applicants, limited employment history, no property, and a stated plan to spend several years in the United States. The four-in-ten refusal share reflects that structural difficulty, not consular hostility to students. The interview itself is where that assessment is made, in a few minutes.
Petition-based routes look easy for the opposite reason. By the time an H-1B, L-1 or O-1 applicant reaches the consulate, USCIS has already approved a petition establishing the job, the employer and the qualifications. The consular officer is checking identity, admissibility and the petition's integrity, not deciding the merits from scratch. The hard filter happened earlier.
Refusal Rates for Major Applicant Countries
For countries that send large numbers of visitors, year-on-year movement is more informative than the headline number. Most large applicant nations saw their adjusted rate rise between FY2024 and FY2025.
Adjusted B-Visa Refusal Rates, FY2024 and FY2025
| Nationality | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| India | 16.32% | 22.04% |
| China | 25.37% | 20.21% |
| Mexico | 13.87% | 21.36% |
| Brazil | 15.48% | 14.87% |
| Nigeria | 46.51% | 57.00% |
| Pakistan | 45.65% | 52.32% |
| Philippines | 28.33% | 30.76% |
| Colombia | 24.70% | 32.84% |
| Bangladesh | 46.09% | 61.45% |
| Ghana | 55.59% | 64.34% |
| Kenya | 63.32% | 68.23% |
| Egypt | 39.77% | 47.61% |
| Vietnam | 22.12% | 22.08% |
| South Korea | 14.97% | 24.73% |
| Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 18.03% | 20.44% |
| Japan | 5.76% | 5.68% |
Source: US Department of State, Adjusted Refusal Rate — B-Visas Only by Nationality, FY2024 and FY2025.
The Visa Waiver Paradox: Why the UK Sits Above Twenty Per Cent
A British or South Korean rate above 20% looks alarming until you remember who is in the sample. Nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries who can travel on an approved ESTA simply do not apply for B visas. The people who do apply are those who cannot use the programme: applicants with a prior refusal, a criminal record, an earlier immigration problem, or travel to a restricted country.
That is a self-selected pool of harder cases, so a high rate is the expected result rather than a warning about British applicants generally. If you hold a British passport and are eligible for the programme, the relevant question is your ESTA, not this table. The requirements of the visitor route itself are covered separately. If you have been refused before, the grounds consular officers rely on matter far more than any national average.
- Covered by nationality: B-1 and B-2 visitor visas only, expressed as an adjusted rate that removes refusals later overcome.
- Covered worldwide: every nonimmigrant class, as raw issued and refused counts, with no country breakdown.
- Not published at all: student, work or fiancé(e) refusal rates broken down by country, and the number of applications behind each national rate.
- Not published at all: refusal reasons by country, or how many refused applicants reapplied successfully.
- Different data entirely: immigrant visa refusals, which are reported separately in the annual immigrant visa tables.
Sources: US Department of State, nonimmigrant visa statistics tables, including the adjusted refusal rate tables for FY2024 and FY2025 and the FY2024 worldwide workload table; the Visa Waiver Program designation criteria; and Presidential Proclamation 10998 as published on travel.state.gov. Comparable British figures are set out in our guide to Home Office application charges, and US costs in our breakdown of consular and petition charges, with naturalisation costs in our N-400 cost guide. Figures verified 24 August 2026.
Frequently Asked
Questions about US refusal statistics
It is the State Department's annual measure of B visitor visa refusals by nationality, adjusted so that applications refused during the year but later issued do not count against the country. It is published for one purpose: testing whether a country meets the under-three-per-cent threshold used in Visa Waiver Program designation.
The Federated States of Micronesia at 100.00%, followed by Laos at 84.35% and Somalia at 83.52%. The Micronesian figure rests on a very small number of applications, because its nationals do not normally need a visitor visa, so it is not comparable with a high-volume country.
India's adjusted B-visa refusal rate was 22.04% in FY2025, up from 16.32% in FY2024. That covers visitor visas only. There is no published country-level rate for F-1 student or H-1B applicants from India, and any figure quoted for those routes by nationality is an estimate rather than official data.
Because British nationals who qualify for the Visa Waiver Program travel on an ESTA instead of applying. Those who do apply for a B visa usually cannot use the programme — often because of a previous refusal, a criminal record or travel to a restricted country. The sample is made up of harder cases.
No. The State Department publishes country-level refusal rates for B visas only. Worldwide, the FY2024 workload table records 400,737 F-1 visas issued and 278,553 refused, a 41.0% refused share. Country-specific student refusal percentages circulating online are not drawn from any official table.
No. Each decision turns on the individual applicant's circumstances, evidence and travel history. A national rate is an aggregate of unrelated cases and carries no probability for any one person. Preparing your documents and being able to explain your ties clearly matters far more than your country's position in the table.
Because they measure different things. The country table reports adjusted rates for B visas, removing refusals later overcome. The worldwide workload table counts every refusal recorded in the year by visa class. The workload method always produces the higher number, which is why B-1/B-2 shows 27.8% worldwide for FY2024.
Not necessarily. The table's own footnote states that 0.00% can mean either that every adjudicated B application ended the year issued, or that no B applications were adjudicated for that nationality at all. The published data does not say which, so a zero is not evidence of a lenient post.
The adjusted refusal rate table is published annually for each fiscal year, which runs from 1 October to 30 September. The FY2025 table is the most recent country-level release. The detailed workload and issuance tables in the annual report currently run to FY2024, so the two datasets are not always for the same year.
Separately. Presidential Proclamation 10998 took effect on 1 January 2026 and suspends issuance for nationals of a listed group of countries, fully in some cases and for B, F, M, J and immigrant visas in others. Visas issued before that date were not revoked. Suspension is a bar on issuance, not a refusal recorded in these tables.