Travel visa statistics show how differently major destinations measure international mobility. The United States reported 10,969,936 nonimmigrant visa issuances at foreign service posts in fiscal year 2024. Australia received 2,821,589 Visitor visa applications in the six months from 1 July through 31 December 2024, while the UK granted 2.2 million visitor visas in the year ending December 2025. These figures use different periods and definitions, so they are best read as indicators of scale rather than as a single ranking.
Contents
- U.S. nonimmigrant visa issuance
- Australia visitor visa demand
- Australia application mix
- Australia grants and citizenship patterns
- Australian processing and arrivals
- UK visitor visas and travel authorisations
U.S. nonimmigrant visa issuance
The U.S. Department of State’s Table XV(A) Classes of Nonimmigrants Issued Visas (Including Border Crossing Cards), Fiscal Years 2020–2024 records 10,969,936 nonimmigrant visas, including border crossing cards, issued by U.S. posts in fiscal year 2024. The total includes short-term travel as well as study, work, exchange and other nonimmigrant classifications.
Business and tourism made up the largest named visitor category. B-1/B-2 visas for temporary business and pleasure totaled 6,498,006 issuances. Combined B1/B2 border crossing card issuances added 1,911,752. The same source lists 31,544 B-1 temporary business visitor visas, a narrower business classification separate from the combined B-1/B-2 total.
Transit-related figures were reported separately. The listed C transit classes together accounted for 15,561 issuances, while C-1/D combination transit and crew-member visas accounted for 324,098. These categories should not be treated as equivalent: the latter combines transit and crew-member purposes.
Other substantial U.S. nonimmigrant categories included 424,792 F student visa issuances, 818,396 H temporary worker and trainee issuances, 355,332 J exchange visitor issuances and 145,116 L intracompany transferee issuances. All of these are fiscal-year 2024 issuance counts at U.S. foreign service posts, rather than counts of applications, approvals or border arrivals.
Australia visitor visa demand
Australia’s BR0112 Visitor Visa Program Report 2024-12-31 covers the six-month period from 1 July through 31 December 2024 unless another measurement period is stated. It records 2,821,589 Visitor visa applications for tourism and business, 3.1% higher than in the corresponding period from 1 July through 31 December 2023.
Tourism applications dominated the period, with 2,553,769 Tourism Visitor visa applications. Business Visitor visa applications totaled 267,820. The report’s statistics include tourism and business streams and may include applications made inside or outside Australia.
The leading citizenship groups by Australian Visitor visa lodgements were China, with 380,513 applications; the United States, with 305,522; the United Kingdom, with 290,807; India, with 205,883; and Japan, with 199,679. These are applicant citizenship figures, not necessarily residence locations or completed journeys.
Australia application mix
Australia’s application mix shows how much visitor demand flowed through different visa products during the second half of 2024.
| Application stream | Applications | Share of Visitor applications |
|---|---|---|
| ETA Tourist | 1,059,224 | 37.5% |
| Tourist Visitor | 923,533 | 32.7% |
| eVisitor Tourist | 526,279 | 18.7% |
| Business Visitor | 170,465 | 6.0% |
| ETA Business | 67,424 | 2.4% |
| Sponsored Tourist | 44,733 | 1.6% |
ETA Tourist applications were the largest listed stream, at 1,059,224 or 37.5% of all Visitor visa applications. Tourist Visitor applications followed at 923,533 or 32.7%, and eVisitor Tourist applications reached 526,279 or 18.7%. Together, these three listed tourism-oriented streams represented the clear majority of the reported application mix.
Business Visitor applications totaled 170,465 or 6.0% of applications. ETA Business applications added 67,424 or 2.4%, while Sponsored Tourist applications totaled 44,733 or 1.6%. The percentages are the shares reported for the 1 July–31 December 2024 period and describe applications, not grants.
Australia grants and citizenship patterns
Australia granted 2,550,260 Visitor visas for tourism and business from 1 July through 31 December 2024. Tourism Visitor grants totaled 2,302,369, which was 6.1% more than in the comparable 2023 period. Business Visitor grants totaled 247,891, 8.5% fewer than in that comparison period.
The grant mix differed from the application mix:
| Grant stream | Grants | Share of Visitor grants |
|---|---|---|
| ETA Tourist | 1,046,800 | 41.0% |
| Tourist Visitor | 713,884 | 28.0% |
| eVisitor Tourist | 519,186 | 20.4% |
| Business Visitor | 151,145 | 5.9% |
| ETA Business | 67,380 | 2.6% |
| eVisitor Business | 29,366 | 1.2% |
| Sponsored Tourist | 22,499 | 0.9% |
ETA Tourist grants were the largest listed stream, with 1,046,800 grants or 41.0% of the reported total. Tourist Visitor grants accounted for 713,884 or 28.0%, and eVisitor Tourist grants for 519,186 or 20.4%. Business Visitor grants reached 151,145 or 5.9%; ETA Business grants reached 67,380 or 2.6%; eVisitor Business grants reached 29,366 or 1.2%; and Sponsored Tourist grants reached 22,499 or 0.9%.
By citizenship, China led Australian Visitor visa grants with 322,305. U.S. citizens received 302,915 grants and UK citizens received 287,738. South Korean citizens received 200,051, Japanese citizens 172,668, and Indian citizens 135,037. The report also recorded 95,914 grants to Singaporean citizens, 76,800 to German citizens and 66,722 to Canadian citizens.
Australian processing and arrivals
The overall Australian Visitor visa grant rate was 91.3% in the quarter from 1 October through 31 December 2024. Processing times varied by stream. Three-quarters of Tourism Visitor subclass 600 applications were processed within 15 calendar days, while three-quarters of Business Visitor subclass 600 applications were processed within 5 calendar days during the same quarter.
At the end of the period, 83,837 Tourism Visitor visa applications were on hand in Australia on 31 December 2024. The corresponding number for Business Visitor applications was 8,051. These on-hand figures represent applications awaiting processing at that date, not the total number lodged during the six-month period.
Australia had 629,075 Visitor visa holders in the country on 31 December 2024, 4.7% more than on 31 December 2023. Visitor-visa arrivals reached 2,877,484 from 1 July through 31 December 2024, an 11.5% increase from the comparable 2023 period.
Chinese citizens accounted for 325,334 arrivals on Visitor visas in that six-month period. U.S. citizens accounted for 291,767. Arrivals are a travel-activity measure and should not be read as a direct count of unique visa holders or applications.
UK visitor visas and travel authorisations
The UK’s Summary of latest statistics uses the year ending December 2025 for its visa and arrival figures. The UK granted 2.2 million visitor visas and 20,000 transit visas during that year. It also issued 809,000 visas for non-visit reasons.
The UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation total is measured differently. From its October 2023 launch through the end of 2025, the UK had issued 24.8 million ETAs cumulatively. This is a cumulative authorisation count since launch, not a visitor-visa grant count, so it should not be combined directly with the annual visitor-visa figure.
The UK recorded 136.6 million arrivals in the year ending December 2025, including visitors who did not require a visa. British nationals made up 57% of those arrivals. The arrivals figure therefore describes total movement into the UK under the stated measure, not only travellers who obtained visitor or transit visas.
Across these three destinations, the reporting windows and definitions matter. U.S. figures here are fiscal-year visa issuances at foreign service posts; Australia’s figures generally cover 1 July–31 December 2024 and include tourism and business visitor streams; and UK figures cover the year ending December 2025. The UK ETA figure is cumulative from October 2023 through 31 December 2025, while the Australian grant rate and processing measures cover only the quarter from 1 October through 31 December 2024.