Nonimmigrant Admissions to the United States: 2011
Nonimmigrants are foreign nationals granted temporary entry into the United States. The major purposes for which nonimmigrant admission may be authorized include temporary visits for business or pleasure, academic or vocational study, temporary employment, and to act as a representative of a foreign government or international organization. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) collects information on the characteristics of certain nonimmigrant admissions from I-94 arrival records (see Box 1).
During2011, there were 159 million nonimmigrant admissions to the United States according to DHS work-load estimates.2 These admissions included tourists and business travelers from Canada, Mexican nationals with Border Crossing Cards, and I-94 admissions.3 I-94 admissions accounted for 33 percent (53.1 million) of the total admissions (see Figure 1). The majority (87 percent) of I-94 admissions were temporary visitors for business and pleasure, while 6.4 percent were tempo-rary workers and families and 3.4 percent were students. The leading countries of citizenship for I-94 admissions were Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
DEFINING “NONIMMIGRANT”
Nonimmigrants are aliens whose classes of admission are specified in Section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Examples of nonimmigrant classes of admission include foreign government offi-cials; temporary visitors for business and pleasure; aliens in transit; treaty traders and investors; academic and vocational students; temporary workers; exchange.
visitors; athletes and entertainers; victims of certain crimes; and family members of U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, and special immigrants. The maximum duration of stay is determined by the class of admission. A person granted lawful permanent resident status4 is authorized to live, work, and study in the U.S. perma-nently; conversely, a nonimmigrant is in a temporary status for a specific purpose and whose activities, such as employment, travel, and accompaniment by dependents, are prescribed by his or her class of admission.
4 Commonly referred to as a legal permanent resident (LPR) or “green card recipient.”
THE NONIMMIGRANT ADMISSIONS PROCESS
Defining “Admissions”
In this report, nonimmigrant admissions refer to number of events (i.e., entries into the U.S.) rather than individuals. More than one entry on the same day is counted as one admission. Admission numbers presented in this report will differ from the number of Department of State visa issuances, which includes all visas that were issued regardless of whether the foreign national entered the United States.
Eligibility
In order to qualify for admission in a nonimmigrant status, a for-eign national must meet all of the following criteria: provide evidence that the visit will be temporary, agree to depart at the end of the authorized stay, possess a valid passport, maintain a foreign residence (in most cases), be able to provide proof of financial support, be admissible to the U.S. or have been granted a waiver for any grounds of inadmissibility, and abide by the terms and conditions of admission.
Documentary Requirements
Applicants for nonimmigrant admission are required to complete a paper Form I-94/I-94W or Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)5 registration to enter the United States. However, Mexican nationals with Border Crossing Cards (when traveling within the border zone for a limited duration) and tour-ists and business travelers from Canada are generally exempt from these requirements.
The Border Crossing Card (BCC) or “laser visa” issued to Mexican nationals is a machine-readable card that is valid for 10 years and contains a biometric indicator, such as a fingerprint. Applicants for a BCC must meet the same qualifications as applicants for a B1/B2 visa (temporary visitor for business or pleasure), have a valid Mexican passport, and demonstrate that they have ties to Mexico that would compel them to return.
I-94 Admissions
Visa Required
If a visa is necessary for entry, the foreign national must apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate. The Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application, Form DS-160, or the Nonimmigrant Visa Application, Form DS-156, must be submitted for all applicants; further, an interview is required for all applicants aged 14 to 79 years. Possession of a visa allows a foreign national to travel to a U.S. port of entry but does not guarantee admission. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer determines if the nonimmigrant may enter the U.S. and the permitted duration of stay. Foreign nationals with a nonimmigrant visa must complete the paper Form I-94.
Visa Waiver Program
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) allows nationals from participat-ing countries to travel to the United States as tourists or business travelers without a visa for a period not to exceed 90 days. It was established, initially as a pilot program, in 1986 with the intent to eliminate barriers to travel, to facilitate tourism, and to promote better relations with U.S. allies. Qualified nationals of VWP-participating countries must possess a security-enhanced passport valid for six months beyond their expected stay; travel on an approved carrier and possess a return trip ticket if arriving by air or sea; demonstrate both intent to stay 90 days or less and suffi-cient funds to support themselves during their stay; and obtain approval from ESTA. At air and sea ports, an electronic I-94W record is created upon admission for ESTA-registered VWP entrants; at land ports, the paper Form I-94W is required. Nationals of VWP countries must obtain a visa if they are traveling to the U.S. for a purpose other than tourism or business or if their stay will exceed 90 days.
During 2011, 36 countries participated in the Visa Waiver Program: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The Guam-Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands Visa Waiver Program (GCVWP) permits nationals of participating countries to be admitted to Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) without a visa. Admissions under the GCVWP may not exceed 45 days in Guam or CNMI. In 2011, Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom were included in the GCVWP.
DATA
The data in this report were obtained from TECS, a computer system used by CBP, which compiles and maintains information collected from nonimmigrants on the paper Form I-94/I-94W and electronic I-94W. Information collected from these I-94 records includes arrival and departure dates, port of entry, class of admission, coun-try of citizenship, state of destination, age, and gender.
Caution should be exercised when interpreting recent trends in I-94 admissions because of the counting changes described in Box 1. The changes affected admission counts for all countries of citi-zenship, classes of admission, and states of destination but had the most impact on Mexican and Canadian admissions. The precise impact of the counting changes is unknown but may be better understood by examining trends in the number of individuals admitted (see Mathews, 2012).
CHARACTERISTICS OF I-94 NONIMMIGRANT ADMISSIONS
In 2011, there were 53.1 million I-94 admissions to the United States. The number of I-94 admissions recorded in 2011 was sub-stantially larger than in 2010 (46.5 million) because 2011 was the first full year in which nearly all land admissions were recorded. Land admission counts during the first five months of 2011 (after counting changes) were 190 percent greater than land admissions during the same months of 2010 (before full implementation of counting changes) (see Table 1).
Class of Admission
The leading categories of admission in 2011 were temporary visi-tors for pleasure (76 percent), temporary visitors for business (11 percent), temporary workers and families (6.4 percent), and stu-dents (3.4 percent) (see Table 2). Owing largely to land port counting changes, admission counts for temporary visitors for plea-sure, temporary visitors for business, and temporary workers and families increased from 2009 to 2010 and again from 2010 to 2011. Greater numbers of Mexican B1 and B2 admissions and Canadian TN, L1, and H1B admissions were recorded at the land border after the counting changes were implemented (see Table 3).
Country of Citizenship
The leading countries of citizenship for nonimmigrant admissions to the United States in 2011 were Mexico (32 percent), the United Kingdom (8.6 percent), Japan (7.1 percent), Germany (4.1 per-cent), Canada (3.5 percent), France (3.5 percent), Brazil (2.9 percent), South Korea (2.8 percent), China (2.6 percent), Australia (2.3 percent) (see Table 4). These ten countries accounted for approximately 69 percent of nonimmigrant admissions to the United States. Admissions of Mexican and Canadian nationals were greater in 2010 than in 2009 and in 2011 than 2010 as a result of land admissions counting changes.
Port of Entry
The leading 20 ports of entry represented 69 percent of nonim-migrant admissions in 2011 (see Table 5). About half of all nonimmigrants were admitted through the following ports of entry: New York (10 percent), Miami (8.9 percent), Los Angeles (7 percent), San Ysidro (5.2 percent), Newark (4.1 percent), San Francisco (3.3 percent), Chicago (3 percent), Honolulu (3 per-cent), Houston (2.7 percent), and Atlanta (2.6 percent). Due to more complete counting at the land borders, the distribution of entries by leading ports changed between 2009 and 2011. In 2009, four land ports (San Ysidro, CA; Otay Mesa, CA; Juarez-Lincoln Bridge, TX; and Calexico, CA) were among the twenty leading ports of entry; in 2011, seven land ports (the ports previ-ously mentioned; plus Nogales, AZ; Bridge of the Americas, TX; and Laredo, TX) were in the leading twenty.
State of Destination
The most frequent states of destination for I-94 nonimmigrant admissions in 2011 were California (19 percent), Florida (13 per-cent), Texas (12 percent), and New York (12 percent) (see Table 6). These four states represented the destinations of 56 percent of foreign nationals admitted.
Age and Gender
In 2011, 62 percent of I-94 admissions were accounted for by individuals aged 25 to 54, and 52 percent of nonimmigrant admissions were male (see Table 7). Age and gender distributions remained relatively unchanged between 2009 and 2011