Unofficial site. Data from official U.S. government websites.

Visa issuance numbers, appointment wait times and the Visa Bulletin come from the U.S. Department of State (issuance reports, wait times, Visa Bulletin). Green card numbers come from the Department of Homeland Security (Office of Homeland Security Statistics). Issuance counts are not approval rates, and monthly figures are preliminary. This site is not legal or immigration advice and is not affiliated with the U.S. government.

Data through February 2026 · 108 months published since March 2017

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Dashboard›Visa refusal rates

Visa refusal rate

Korea, South

How often applications from Korea, South were refused or approved, fiscal year by fiscal year.

Source: U.S. Department of State, visa statistics · Unofficial

B visas (visitors) · FY2023
14.4% refused
About 86% approved · #142 of 198 nationalities, where #1 has the highest refusal rate. A group figure, not a prediction for any one person.

Refusal rate by year

Choose a year
3.6%4.4%3.8%5.5%9.4%7.5%13%18.1%21.2%13.2%8.7%9.1%8%7.7%8.5%18%17.4%14.4%15%24.7%
06200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024202520

Every year

The State Department's adjusted refusal rate. Approved is what is left after the refusals.

Fiscal yearRefusedApproved
FY202524.7%about 75%
FY202415%about 85%
FY202314.4%about 86%
FY202217.4%about 83%
FY202118%about 82%
FY20208.5%about 92%
FY20197.7%about 92%
FY20188%about 92%
FY20179.1%about 91%
FY20168.7%about 91%
FY201513.2%about 87%
FY201421.2%about 79%
FY201318.1%about 82%
FY201213%about 87%
FY20117.5%about 93%
FY20109.4%about 91%
FY20095.5%about 95%
FY20083.8%about 96%
FY20074.4%about 96%
FY20063.6%about 96%

A fiscal year runs from October to September (FY2025 is October 2024 to September 2025). This is for visitor (B) visas only.

In plain words

Refusal rate
Out of 100 people who applied, how many were told no. A 20% refusal rate means about 20 in 100 were refused.
Adjusted
The State Department leaves out people who were refused for paperwork reasons and later got the visa, so the number is fairer.
Approved
The visa was issued. We show it as what is left after the refusals.
Applications (workload)
Everyone the embassies decided on in the year: visas issued plus visas refused.
Fiscal year (FY)
The U.S. government year, October to September. FY2025 is October 2024 to September 2025.

Korea, South in short

What is the U.S. visa refusal rate for Korea, South?

For b visas (visitors), the adjusted refusal rate for people from Korea, South was 14.4% in FY2023, which means about 86% of applications were approved. It is a group figure for one fiscal year, not a prediction for any one person.

Visa Status is an unofficial site and does not give immigration advice. A refusal rate describes all applications from a country in one year. It does not predict what will happen to any one applicant.

Also see

Visas issued to Korea, South →Korea, South wait times →All refusal rates →By visa type, worldwide →