The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) collects information on the characteristics of certain nonimmigrant admissions from I-94 arrival records. This information gathered from I-94s on the number and characteristics of nonimmigrant admissions to the United States during the 2013 fiscal year (October 1 to September 30) is presented by The Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) in its Annual Flow Report.
Nonimmigrants are foreign nationals granted temporary admission into the United States. The major purposes for which nonimmigrant admission may be authorized include temporary visits for business or pleasure, academic or vocational study, temporary employment, or to act as a representative of a foreign government or international organization.
The Annual Flow Report indicates that, according to DHS work-load estimates, there were 173 million nonimmigrant admissions to the United States during the 2013 fiscal year. These admissions included tourists and business travelers from Canada, Mexican nationals with Border Crossing Cards, and nonimmigrants who were issued Form I-94 (I-94 admissions). I-94 admissions accounted for 35 percent (61.1 million) of total non-immigrant admissions. Ninety percent of I-94 admissions were temporary visitors for business and pleasure, while 4.9 percent were temporary workers and families and 2.9 percent were students. The leading countries of citizenship for I-94 admissions were Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
Some interesting facts from the Annual Flow Report include:
Port of Entry
The largest 20 ports of entry represented 67 percent of nonimmigrant admissions in 2013. About half of all nonimmigrants were admitted through the following ports of entry: New York (10 percent), Miami (9.3 percent), Los Angeles (6.8 percent), Newark (3.5 percent), Honolulu (3.5 percent), San Francisco (3.3 percent), San Ysidro (3.2 percent), Chicago (3.0 percent), Otay Mesa (2.5 percent), Atlanta (2.5 percent), and Houston (2.5 percent).
State of Destination
The most frequent states of destination for I-94 nonimmigrant admissions in 2013 were California (18 percent), Florida (13 per-cent), Texas (13 percent), and New York (11 percent). These four states represented the destinations of 55 percent of foreign nationals admitted.
Age and Sex
In 2013, 60 percent of I-94 admissions were accounted for by individuals aged 25 to 54, and 51 percent of nonimmigrant admissions were male. Age and sex distributions remained relatively unchanged between 2011 and 2013.
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