Visa Waiver Program Arrivals Statistics Between 2014 and 2018

Updated: Jun 14, 2020  | Tags: ESTA Arrivals Statistics, Visa Waiver Program

Introduction

The U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) arrivals statistics by country of citizenship from 2014 to 2018 have been analyzed and consolidated in this article. These statistics are released on an annual basis by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the results for 2019 are still being processed. This article will share some of the findings discovered on meaningful results extracted from the data during the reviewed period.

What Visa Waiver Program Arrivals do the numbers include?

Visa Waiver Program for the United States

The United States administers its Visa Waiver Program through the Department of Homeland Security. The system used facilitate the process of issuing visa waivers is the ESTA, which stands for Electronic System for Travel Authorization. These are broken down into two categories:

• Temporary visitors for pleasure (WT) - This is the most common category of VWP arrivals traveling on an ESTA for tourism or leisure purposes.
• Temporary visitors for business (WB) – This is the category of VWP arrivals visiting the United states for business.

Visa Waiver Program for Guam and The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)

This report contains data from the Temporary visitors for pleasure or business to Guam or Northern Mariana Islands. Arrivals statistics for this category are included unless otherwise noted.

Since 2009, the United States has managed the immigration functions of Guam and The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, although visits to these territories is not managed through the ESTA. Instead the U.S. issues visitors an I-94 on arrivals to these territories. DHS also reports on the arrivals statistics for travelers visiting these territories. The 39 countries eligible for the U.S. VWP are eligible to apply for a visa waiver to Guam and The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), as are nationals of Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Number of U.S. VWP Arrivals Increased Year-Over-Year

The total number of VWP arrivals increased each year from 2014 to 2018. The largest year-over-year increase took place in 2016, when there was a 2.92% increase in arrivals through the VWP when compared to 2015. The lowest increase took place in the year prior, 2015, where the increase in arrivals from 2014 was a modest 0.33%. The table below shows the total number of VWP arrivals per year for just the U.S. ESTA VWP Arrivals for tourism (WT) and business (WB) travel.

South America has the Largest Increase in Arrivals by Region

South American passport holders traveling under the VWP increased by 528% between 2014 and 2018. This increase may be largely attributed to the addition of Chile to the VWP on March 31^st 2014. Arrivals holding passports from VWP eligible Asian countries increased at the second highest rate of 10.38% between 2014 and 2018, while arrivals traveling with a European passport under the VWP increased by only 4.56% during the same period.  A full table of arrivals by region and year-over-year growth is shown below.

South Korea and Chile Lead the Way with Highest Increases in VWP arrivals

VWP arrivals from Chile increased by 528% from 2014 to 2018. South Korea took second place with an increase in 67.62% over the same period. In terms of highest absolute numbers, the United Kingdom had the most arrivals at 22,670,501 during the five years reviewed and Japan was close behind at 18,529,770.

Most Popular States Overall

The top three most popular states for U.S. VWP arrivals were New York, California and Florida. Each state consecutively held its position in the top three over the entire 2014-2018 period reviewed. Together, the top three most popular states for arrivals averaged to about 46.5% each year from 2014-2018. The top three states have a lot to offer for tourist and business visitors, hence their popularity will not come as a surprise. The least popular states for arrivals were Mississippi, South Dakota and West Virginia, most likely due to their lack of strong transport links or appeal for tourist or business visitors.

States Experiencing Highest Growth of VWP Arrivals

Rhode Island has experienced the greatest percentage growth in Visa Waiver Program arrivals, increasing 38.46% from 2014 to 2018. Tennessee took second place during the same period with a growth of 31.43%. Third place goes to Utah with an increase of 23.46%. Although the states experiencing the highest growth did not make the top three, or even top ten most popular states for VWP arrivals, it is interesting to see the high growth of business (WB) and tourism (WT) visitors these states.

[1] Includes American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and U.S. Armed Forces posts.

Busiest and Most Quiet Months to Visit the U.S.

Looking at the months for through the calendar year; January, February and November are the periods where the U.S. was least visited by VWP eligible travelers. The busiest periods are in the summer months of July and August, as well as the fall months of September or October. Looking back at previous years, these findings hold through from 2014 to 2018.

What Types of Travelers Visit the U.S.?

The following table shows the proportion of visitors by gender and age group in 2018. It can be seen from the results that for females, the most likely arrivals are between the ages of 25-29. For men, the most prevalent age group represented are between 45-49 years of age. For both male and females, children under the age of 9 are least likely to visit the United States when compared to other age groups. This is most likely due to the difficulty’s parents may experience when traveling internationally with babies, toddlers or children.

Conclusion

Now that 2019 has concluded, we await the results from DHS regarding the latest arrivals data. It remains to be seen if the release of the 2019 arrivals immigration statistics from DHS will continue to show an increase in the number of arrivals via the Visa Waiver Program. Some of the trends witnessed from 2014-2018 may continue, however it is unlikely there will be much change to the busy and quiet periods of VWP arrivals, nor will there likely be a change to the popularity of the New York, California and Florida hold as the top three most visited states for U.S. VWP arrivals.

Data Reference

1. https://www.dhs.gov/