This is an automatically generated report on immigration from Iran 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 3,331 nonimmigrant visas issued for Iran, compared to a global average of 13,960 nonimmigrant visas issued per country. This represents a 53% change from the previous fiscal year.

Most common nonimmigrant visas:

Visa FY 2021 FY2020 % Change FY2016 2021-2016 % Change
Student (F1) 1,967 528 272.5% 2,650 -25.8%
Business visitor or tourist (B1/B2) 328 716 -54.2% 23,048 -98.6%
Exchange Visitor (J1) 321 254 26.4% 846 -62.1%
Dependents of F1 visa holder (F2) 229 127 80.3% 489 -53.2%
Fiancé(e) to marry U.S. Citizen & live in U.S. (K1) 132 245 -46.1% 356 -62.9%
Exchange Visitor (J2) 131 111 18% 374 -65%
Employee of a designated international organization or NATO (G4) 89 97 -8.2% 171 -48%
Employee of a designated international organization or NATO (G1) 44 28 57.1% 96 -54.2%
Specialty occupations in fields requiring highly specialized knowledge (H1B) 17 9 88.9% 144 -88.2%
Employee of a designated international organization or NATO (G2) 13 8 62.5% 209 -93.8%

Immigrant Visas

From 2022-07-01 to 2021-08-01 there were 5,788 immigrant visas issued for Iran 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) 2,070
Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) 896
Siblings of US citizens and/or their children and spouses (F4) 846
Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1) 443
Married children of US citizens and their spouses and their children (F3) 316
Family of Lawful Permanent Resident (FX) 229
Unmarried sons and daughters of US Citizens and their children (F1) 220
Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees and Persons of Exceptional Ability (E2) 190
Priority Workers (E1) 140
Certain Family Members of Lawful Permanent Residents (F2B) 110

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 135 new refugee arrivals and 258 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, 203 were affirmative asylees, who had proactively applied for asylum, and 55 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, 1,286 people from Iran were determined inadmissible, meaning they were not approved to enter the US. A further 91 were apprehended within the US on suspicion of being there illegally, of which 5 were removed for non-criminal charges and 15 were removed on criminal charges, with the remainder either released on still awaiting a final decision.