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Immigrant visas issued abroad

State's consulates issued 26,483 immigrant visas in February 2026, 3,985 of them employment-based. Green cards granted inside the United States aren't counted here, and for employment categories that's most of them.

Fig 01 Employment visas issued abroad, month by month March 2023 to February 2026
Employment immigrant visas issued abroad by month
Category February 12 months
EB-1 695 5,087
EB-2 646 12,514
EB-3 1,659 17,467
EB-3 other workers 264 5,107
EB-4 11 71
EB-5 710 7,906
Each bar is one month's issuances in the category; the newest is the dark one. More
Each bar is one month's issuances in the category; the newest is the dark one. A category can fall to almost nothing late in a fiscal year (it ends in September) once its yearly numbers are used up, and picks up again in October.
U.S. Department of State, monthly immigrant visa issuances

Who got them, the last 12 months

By foreign state of chargeability (usually the country of birth), March 2025 to February 2026, spouses and children included.

EB-2

  1. Brazil

    2,746

  2. Colombia

    1,578

  3. Pakistan

    1,193

  4. Nigeria

    649

  5. Korea, South

    616

  6. China - mainland born

    463

  7. Canada

    347

  8. Everyone else (126 more)

    4,922

EB-3

  1. Philippines

    8,485

  2. Kenya

    1,516

  3. Ghana

    1,205

  4. Nigeria

    641

  5. United Arab Emirates

    469

  6. Nepal

    448

  7. China - mainland born

    432

  8. Everyone else (118 more)

    4,271

EB-1

  1. China - mainland born

    996

  2. Russia

    383

  3. Brazil

    347

  4. Canada

    329

  5. India

    321

  6. Nigeria

    211

  7. Korea, South

    204

  8. Everyone else (116 more)

    2,296

EB-5

  1. China - mainland born

    2,967

  2. Korea, South

    1,293

  3. Vietnam

    941

  4. India

    887

  5. Taiwan

    239

  6. Hong Kong S.A.R.

    185

  7. Mexico

    153

  8. Everyone else (86 more)

    1,241

EB-3 other workers

  1. Mexico

    1,011

  2. Philippines

    956

  3. China - mainland born

    569

  4. Vietnam

    402

  5. Brazil

    375

  6. Colombia

    208

  7. Korea, South

    178

  8. Everyone else (79 more)

    1,408

Where they were issued

The consulates that issued the most employment visas, the last 12 months.

  1. Manila

    7,523

  2. Guangzhou

    5,304

  3. Rio de Janeiro

    3,486

  4. Seoul

    2,506

  5. Montreal

    2,442

  6. Bogota

    2,078

  7. Ciudad Juarez

    1,747

  8. Nairobi

    1,647

  9. Ho Chi Minh City

    1,503

  10. London

    1,268

  11. Islamabad

    1,188

  12. Accra

    1,182

Every category

Immigrant visas issued abroad by category
Category February 2026 Last 12 months
EB-1 695 5,087
EB-2 646 12,514
EB-3 1,659 17,467
EB-3 other workers 264 5,107
EB-4 11 71
EB-5 710 7,906
Immediate relatives 14,649 262,662
Family preferences 7,725 167,907
Diversity 0 37,312
Special immigrants 124 11,881
Other 0 45
How State's symbols map to these categories

Each row of State's tables carries a visa symbol. The categories follow State's own legend, Immigrant Visa Symbols: E1 is EB-1, E2 EB-2, E3 EB-3 skilled workers and professionals, EW EB-3 other workers, C5, T5, R5, I5 and the regional-center symbols added in 2022 EB-5, and so on. State's earlier tables print each symbol with its sub-class (E21, E22) and its later ones as one group (E2); the categories add both the same way.

Abroad, not in the US

These are visas consulates issued to people outside the country. Someone in the US on an H-1B gets the green card from USCIS instead, which counts it in its own quarterly figures.

The cutoff behind them

A consulate can issue a visa only to someone whose priority date is current in that month's visa bulletin, so the bars move with the cutoffs.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Monthly Immigrant Visa Issuance Statistics, March 2017 to February 2026. Every month's rows are checked against State's own grand total before they're shown.

The rules behind these numbers

Other calculators

State visa issuances: State Department monthly immigrant visa issuances (state.gov) · data through Feb 28, 2026 · monthly, posted months late

What this data includes

State visa issuances: Immigrant visas State's consulates issued abroad each month, by visa class and by country or consulate. A green card granted inside the United States (adjustment of status at USCIS) is not in it, and for employment categories that is most of them.