Visa Status
Visa Status · unofficial · data from the U.S. Department of State
· printed

Country

South Africa · O1

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Extraordinary ability · For people with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, athletics or film and television.

O1 visas issued to people from South Africa · February 2026
10

That is 3 fewer than in January 2026 (13) — -23.1%.

O1 visas made up 0.2% of all visas in February 2026 (compared with 0.2% in January 2026).

Quick view · February 2026
-23.1% vs January 2026 (13)+66.7% vs February 2025 (6)

All published months together: 999

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South Africa · Visa class O1 · One total per month
  • Dec 202519
  • Jan 202613
  • Feb 202610
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  • Jan 2026 is 6 (31.6%) lower than Dec 2025.
  • Feb 2026 is 9 (47.4%) lower than Dec 2025.
View as table
Dec 2025Jan 2026Feb 2026
Total issued 191310
Total191310
Total visas issued
137
Latest 12 months · South Africa · O1
Compare with other countries →Compare months or years →Sub-Saharan Africa →Share snapshot →

By month · latest 12 months

Choose a month to filter
1312881018899191310
Mar'25Apr'25May'25Jun'25Jul'25Aug'25Sep'25Oct'25Nov'25Dec'25Jan'26Feb'26

Top visa types

Select one to look at only that visa type

  1. B1/B229,673
  2. H2A14,962
  3. C1/D3,899
  4. J12,736
  5. H2B2,236
  6. F11,059

South Africa · O1: month by month, 2026 compared with 2025

compared with
  • 2025138
  • 202623
05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
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Month by month
Month20252026Change
January1813 -27.8%
February610 +66.7%
March13––
April12––
May8––
June8––
July10––
August18––
September8––
October9––
November9––
December19––

When is it busy? South Africa · O1

Busiest month: January (17.3% of a typical year). Quietest: June (4.3%). An even year would be 8.3% a month.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Average of 7 full years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). Each bar is that month's share of the year's total. Years with missing months are left out. It shows when visas are issued, not when people apply.

South Africa · O1: all published months

By monthBy yearBy fiscal year
01002003004002018partial20192020202120222023202420252026partial

“partial” means fewer than 12 months have been published for that period.

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YearIssuances
2018 partial38
2019 164
2020 54
2021 72
2022 215
2023 160
2024 135
2025 138
2026 partial23