H-1B Visa Approval Rate by Year
Yearly issued, refused, applications, and calculated approval rate from State Dept workload data.
Latest approval rate
97.9%
FY 2023→ vs 97.6% prev year
Last year issued
265,777
FY 2023
Last year refused
5,755
2.1% refusal rate
How to use this data
What this shows: Yearly visa workload: applications, issued, refused, and derived approval rate by visa class (global only).
How to leverage it: Set expectations for outcome quality. Combine with issuance trends to see if volume changes align with approval rates.
Caution: Rates are global; we do not have approval rates by country or consulate.
Country share of issuances (last 12 months)
Top 10 countries by H-1B visa issuances; remaining countries grouped as Others.
| Year | Issued | Refused | Applications | Approval % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 265,777 | 5,755 | 271,532 | 97.88% |
| 2022 | 206,002 | 5,020 | 211,022 | 97.62% |
| 2021 | 61,569 | 4,738 | 66,307 | 92.85% |
| 2020 | 124,983 | 3,525 | 128,508 | 97.26% |
| 2019 | 188,123 | 3,864 | 191,987 | 97.99% |
| 2018 | 179,660 | 51,373 | 231,033 | 77.76% |
| 2016 | 180,057 | 23,590 | 203,647 | 88.42% |
| 2015 | 172,748 | 19,446 | 192,194 | 89.88% |
| 2014 | 161,369 | 18,039 | 179,408 | 89.95% |
| 2013 | 153,223 | 23,141 | 176,364 | 86.88% |
| 2010 | 117,409 | 30,528 | 147,937 | 79.36% |
| 2009 | 110,367 | 25,911 | 136,278 | 80.99% |
Source: US Dept of State Nonimmigrant Visa Statistics. For informational purposes. Not affiliated with US Government.