M-1 Visa Approval Rate by Year
Yearly issued, refused, applications, and calculated approval rate from State Dept workload data.
Latest approval rate
74.7%
FY 2023↑ vs 73.3% prev year
Last year issued
6,052
FY 2023
Last year refused
2,051
25.3% 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 M-1 visa issuances; remaining countries grouped as Others.
| Year | Issued | Refused | Applications | Approval % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 6,052 | 2,051 | 8,103 | 74.69% |
| 2022 | 5,271 | 1,917 | 7,188 | 73.33% |
| 2021 | 4,554 | 1,265 | 5,819 | 78.26% |
| 2020 | 3,928 | 1,134 | 5,062 | 77.6% |
| 2019 | 9,227 | 2,502 | 11,729 | 78.67% |
| 2018 | 9,317 | 4,304 | 13,621 | 68.4% |
| 2016 | 10,305 | 4,136 | 14,441 | 71.36% |
| 2015 | 11,058 | 3,602 | 14,660 | 75.43% |
| 2014 | 11,706 | 3,680 | 15,386 | 76.08% |
| 2013 | 11,320 | 3,584 | 14,904 | 75.95% |
| 2010 | 9,192 | 2,986 | 12,178 | 75.48% |
| 2009 | 9,257 | 2,728 | 11,985 | 77.24% |
Source: US Dept of State Nonimmigrant Visa Statistics. For informational purposes. Not affiliated with US Government.