Only 47% of those who requested visitor visas to the United States last year were admitted. 53% of those seeking B1/B2 non-immigrant visas at the US Consulate were rejected during the US fiscal year 2019 (from October 2018 to September 2019).
For the second consecutive year, there has been a considerable reduction in the number of US visas issued to Dominicans. These have dropped from 142,580 approved in 2018 to 86,649 visas in 2019, according to data provided by immigration specialist Roque Leonel Rodríguez to the Listin Diario. He said the average number of monthly visitor visas being issued is about 7,200, compared to 15,000 in previous years. He said 2017 was a peak year, when 205,000 visitor visas were issued.
Rodríguez says that the months with the highest peak in issuing immigration visas were Easter, summer and Thanksgiving vacation times. The largest number of visa application rejections affected young people ages 16 to 22 years old.
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Listin Diario
16 January 2020