Updated May 2025 · USCIS + DHS data
Compare Immigration Data Between Two Countries
Search for any two countries to see U.S. immigration applications, approval rates, top visa types, and country-of-origin rankings side by side — sourced from USCIS records and the DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics.
How to Use This Tool
Type the name of a source country in each search box. The tool will pull the country\'s most recent application volume and approval rate from USCIS quarterly performance data, then display the two side by side. Higher application volume sits at a lower country rank (rank #1 is the largest source country); higher approval rate generally correlates with stronger documentation, more employment-based applications, or country-specific policy advantages.
For deeper context on either country, click "View {Country}" at the bottom of the comparison to see the full country profile — top visa categories, recent trend, and links to the underlying federal data. For pre-built country pairs based on the largest source countries, see the comparison index pages on the site.
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What the Numbers Mean
Applications is the count of U.S. immigration applications USCIS records as filed by nationals of the country in the most recent reporting period. This includes the full set of immigration form types — employment-based petitions, family-based petitions, naturalization applications, and humanitarian filings — pooled into a single per-country total.
Approval rate is the share of completed cases for that country that USCIS approved versus denied (or otherwise terminated). Approval rate is sensitive to the mix of visa categories the country\'s applicants tend to file — employment-based categories typically have higher approval rates than family-based, which typically have higher rates than humanitarian categories. Direct cross-country comparisons of approval rates are most meaningful when the underlying category mix is similar.
Country rank is the country\'s position in the all-countries leaderboard sorted by application volume. Rank #1 is the country whose nationals filed the most U.S. immigration applications in the reporting period.
For per-country processing-time and visa-category breakdowns beyond the comparison view, see each country\'s individual profile page or the USCIS processing-times tool.
Authoritative Sources
All immigration data on this site is sourced from federal records: USCIS reports and studies for application volumes and approval rates, the DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics for annual totals and demographic breakdowns, the USCIS processing-times tool for current case processing benchmarks, and the Department of State Visa Bulletin for green-card priority-date movement.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the country comparison tool show?
The compare tool puts two countries' U.S. immigration data side by side: total applications filed by nationals of each country, the approval rate on those applications, the country's rank among all source countries, and the top visa categories. All figures come from USCIS quarterly reports and the DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. The tool is descriptive — it shows what the federal record looks like, not what immigration policy will look like next year.
Where does this immigration data come from?
Application volumes and approval rates are pulled from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) quarterly performance data and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Both are public datasets published by the federal government. Visa-bulletin and processing-time data are cross-referenced against the Department of State and the USCIS public processing-time tool.
Why do approval rates differ so much between countries?
Approval rate variation reflects several factors: the mix of visa categories nationals of a given country tend to apply for (employment-based versus family-based versus humanitarian), the strength of supporting documentation typical for that country's applicants, country-specific visa caps that affect approval timelines, and any country-specific policy or per-country eligibility constraints. Approval rate is best read as a population-level signal rather than a forecast for any individual application.
What is a country rank in the immigration data?
Country rank in this tool is based on total application volume — country #1 has the most U.S. immigration applications filed by its nationals, country #2 the second-most, and so on. The ranking shifts slowly year to year as economic conditions and policy changes shift application flows. The full ranking is available on the all-countries ranking page.
Does this data include only legal immigration?
Yes. The data on this site comes from USCIS application records and DHS administrative statistics — both reflect the formal immigration system. Estimates of unauthorized immigration are produced separately by DHS's Office of Immigration Statistics and are not included in the application-volume and approval-rate figures shown here. For unauthorized population estimates, see the DHS Yearbook directly.
How This Comparison Is Built
Country selection is loaded from the full list of source countries tracked in the dataset, sorted by application volume. Application counts and approval rates come from the most recent USCIS reporting period available, with cross-checks against the DHS Yearbook for annual figures. The tool does not predict future immigration volumes or processing times — it shows the most recent federal record. Read the full methodology for the data pipeline and known limitations.
Sources: USCIS reports and studies; DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics; USCIS processing-times tool; Department of State Visa Bulletin. All public-domain federal data.
Last updated 2025-05-14 · 198 countries tracked.