This is an automatically generated report on immigration from Colombia to the United States of America using data from the US State Department and the US Department of Homeland Security.

Visa Statistics from the US State Department

Nonimmigrant Visas

For Fiscal Year 2021 there were 54,452 nonimmigrant visas issued for Colombia, compared to a global average of 13,960 nonimmigrant visas issued per country. This represents a -44% change from the previous fiscal year.

Most common nonimmigrant visas:

Visa FY 2021 FY2020 % Change FY2016 2021-2016 % Change
Business visitor or tourist (B1/B2) 33,145 87,162 -62% 374,398 -91.1%
Exchange Visitor (J1) 8,349 2,389 249.5% 5,035 65.8%
Student (F1) 4,458 1,912 133.2% 4,994 -10.7%
Diplomat or foreign government official (A2) 2,400 1,252 91.7% 3,071 -21.8%
Transiting the United States (C1/D) 1,191 872 36.6% 1,708 -30.3%
Exchange Visitor (J2) 496 113 338.9% 302 64.2%
Fiancé(e) to marry U.S. Citizen & live in U.S. (K1) 496 470 5.5% 1,195 -58.5%
Dependents of F1 visa holder (F2) 402 149 169.8% 324 24.1%
Intra-company transferee (L2) 383 372 3% 581 -34.1%
Specialty occupations in fields requiring highly specialized knowledge (H1B) 362 313 15.7% 633 -42.8%

Immigrant Visas

From 2022-07-01 to 2021-08-01 there were 10,211 immigrant visas issued for Colombia compared to a global average of 2,409 immigrant visas per country over the same time period.

Most common immigrant visas:

Visa Total Visas Issued
Parents of US Citizen (IR5) 1,776
Family of Lawful Permanent Resident (FX) 1,729
Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1) 1,437
Unmarried children of IR1 Visa Holders (IR2) 1,209
Unmarried sons and daughters of US Citizens and their children (F1) 1,121
Siblings of US citizens and/or their children and spouses (F4) 752
Certain Family Members of Lawful Permanent Residents (F2B) 527
Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (CR1) 496
Married children of US citizens and their spouses and their children (F3) 421
Intercountry Adoption of Orphan Children by U.S. Citizens (IH3) 235

Immigration Statistics from the US Department of Homeland Security

Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Moving on the refugees and asylees (asylum seekers), in FY 2020 there were 219 new refugee arrivals and 319 new asylees. The primary difference between refugees and asylees is that refugees are not currently in the US while asylees are either already in the US or at a point of entry. Among asylees, 282 were affirmative asylees, who had proactively applied for asylum, and 37 were defensive asylees, meaning they are currently in removal proceedings in an immigration court.

Sometimes immigrants, legal or otherwise, must be removed from their host country. In FY 2020, 2,394 people from Colombia were determined inadmissible, meaning they were not approved to enter the US. A further 1,199 were apprehended within the US on suspicion of being there illegally, of which 323 were removed for non-criminal charges and 1549 were removed on criminal charges, with the remainder either released on still awaiting a final decision.