J-2 Visa Approval Rate by Year
Yearly issued, refused, applications, and calculated approval rate from State Dept workload data.
Latest approval rate
92.1%
FY 2023→ vs 92.0% prev year
Last year issued
32,028
FY 2023
Last year refused
2,743
7.9% 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 J-2 visa issuances; remaining countries grouped as Others.
| Year | Issued | Refused | Applications | Approval % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 32,028 | 2,743 | 34,771 | 92.11% |
| 2022 | 30,579 | 2,648 | 33,227 | 92.03% |
| 2021 | 18,961 | 1,182 | 20,143 | 94.13% |
| 2020 | 15,232 | 1,027 | 16,259 | 93.68% |
| 2019 | 38,282 | 2,251 | 40,533 | 94.45% |
| 2018 | 39,580 | 10,531 | 50,111 | 78.98% |
| 2016 | 40,408 | 8,557 | 48,965 | 82.52% |
| 2015 | 42,289 | 8,287 | 50,576 | 83.61% |
| 2014 | 42,108 | 8,507 | 50,615 | 83.19% |
| 2013 | 39,874 | 7,779 | 47,653 | 83.68% |
| 2010 | 32,797 | 5,928 | 38,725 | 84.69% |
| 2009 | 31,944 | 5,551 | 37,495 | 85.2% |
Source: US Dept of State Nonimmigrant Visa Statistics. For informational purposes. Not affiliated with US Government.