The Economics Of American Visas

March 16, 2017 in Daily Bulletin

Tkasang and Rodionos delved into publicly available data on American visas between 1997 and 2015:

  • The data reflects the international landscape as the US sees it. 82% of Cuban visas were rejected in 2015, while all visa applications from Lictenstein, Monaco, and San Marino were approved.
  • It also reflects trends over time. Visa rejections from traditional US allies like Canada and Norway have shot up as the world has become more closed.
  • On the other hand Poland’s visa rejection rate decreased by 21% – likely because it joined the European Union.
  • In 2015 the United States received a total of 13.5 million visa applications and approved 81% of them.
  • The country still earned money from application fees on the visas it rejected. In 2015 this totalled $411 million.
  • Mexico and India were responsible for a significant chunk of the rejected visa revenue, bringing in $60 million and $48 million respectively.

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