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Visa programs / Research & data

H-1B visas.
The numbers in context.

A historical look at H-1B visa issuances, with annual figures, original sources, and a clear explanation of what the data can tell us.

Historical coverage: FY1990–2024 · Page prepared October 18, 2026

FY2024 visas issued219,659Worldwide H1B classification · [4]
Highest year in this series265,777FY2023 · [4]
Change, FY2023 → FY2024−17.4%Calculated from State Department figures

What is being counted?

These are visas issued by the U.S. Department of State in the H-1B/H1B classification, by federal fiscal year. This is a different measure from USCIS petition approvals, new cap-subject selections, or the number of H-1B workers living in the United States.

An issuance total does not establish how many U.S. workers were displaced. Summing annual issuances also does not produce a count of unique people.

The historical picture

H-1B visa issuances, 1990–2024

Visas issued worldwide per fiscal year. Hover over a point for its value; the complete table follows.

H-1B visas issued, fiscal years 1990–2024Annual issuance series. FY2024: 219,659. Peak in this series: FY2023, 265,777. All values appear in the annual table below.0k100k200k300kFY1990: 7941990FY1991: 51,882FY1992: 44,290FY1993: 35,818FY1994: 42,843FY1995: 51,8321995FY1996: 58,327FY1997: 80,547FY1998: 91,360FY1999: 116,513FY2000: 133,2902000FY2001: 161,643FY2002: 118,352FY2003: 107,196FY2004: 138,965FY2005: 124,0992005FY2006: 135,421FY2007: 154,053FY2008: 129,464FY2009: 110,367FY2010: 117,4092010FY2011: 129,134FY2012: 135,530FY2013: 153,223FY2014: 161,369FY2015: 172,7482015FY2016: 180,057FY2017: 179,049FY2018: 179,660FY2019: 188,123FY2020: 124,9832020FY2021: 61,569FY2022: 206,002FY2023: 265,777FY2024: 219,6592024

Sources: [1]–[4]. FY1990 reflects the H-1B category as separately reported; the older H-1 category is excluded. Pandemic-era issuance was affected by consular service disruptions noted in the official report.

Read the figures with care

One measure, consistently labeled

The workbook labels its column “New H-1B Visas Approved,” while its source notes define it as State Department visa issuances. This page uses the issuance definition and corrects four recent mismatches against the official table.

Fiscal years, not calendar years

A federal fiscal year runs October 1 through September 30. FY2024 covers October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024.

Missing fields stay missing

The worksheet does not provide a usable annual series for renewals, transitions to permanent residence, or naturalization. Those measures are unavailable here; blank cells and isolated zeros are not evidence of zero activity.

A historical snapshot

FY2025 and FY2026 contain zero placeholders in the supplied workbook. They are excluded rather than presented as observed totals. This page’s dataset ends in FY2024.

Explore the records

Annual issuance data

H-1B/H1B visas issued worldwide. “Corrected” identifies a change from the supplied workbook.
Fiscal yearVisas issuedRelative volumeSource / note
2024219,659[4] · corrected
2023265,777[4] · corrected
2022206,002[4] · corrected
202161,569[4] · corrected
2020124,983[4]
2019188,123[1]
2018179,660[1]
2017179,049[1]
2016180,057[1]
2015172,748[1]
2014161,369[1]
2013153,223[1]
2012135,530[1]
2011129,134[1]
2010117,409[1]
2009110,367[1]
2008129,464[1]
2007154,053[1]
2006135,421[1]
2005124,099[1]
2004138,965[1]
2003107,196[1]
2002118,352[1]
2001161,643[1]
2000133,290[1]
1999116,513[1]
199891,360[1]
199780,547[1]
199658,327[3]
199551,832[3]
199442,843[3]
199335,818[3]
199244,290[3]
199151,882[2]
1990794[2]
Follow the evidence

Sources & methodology

Starting file: Job_Theft_Matrix_filled.xlsx, worksheet H-1B. FY1990–2020 values are carried over from that worksheet; FY2021–2024 use the official State Department table below. Historical source links are provided for independent review. This is not a fresh audit of every historical row.

[1] U.S. Department of State · historical data index

Official annual and multi-year issuance tables; FY1997–2024 detail workbook.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/nonimmigrant-visa-statistics.html
[4] Department of State · FY2020–2024

Table XV(B), page 2: H1B visa issuances. Used to correct FY2021–2024.

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2024AnnualReport/Table%20XVB.pdf
Corrections to the supplied workbook

These workbook values do not match the issuance series identified in its source notes. They are retained here for transparency; their original measure has not been established.

Fiscal yearWorkbook valueOfficial issuances [4]
2021407,07161,569
2022265,777206,002
2023386,000265,777
2024399,995219,659

The workbook’s aggregate is not reused because it combines these mismatched annual values.

Additional reading supplied with this project

These are background links, not sources for this page’s annual issuance series. Petition approvals and issuance totals must be compared using their own definitions.

O-1 and OPT source links belong with their respective program pages and are not used to calculate H-1B totals here.

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