24 O-1 Visa Statistics Every Applicant Should Know in 2026

O-1 approval rate statistics

• USCIS approved 93.9% of O-category I-129 petitions in FY 2025. Within these numbers, there were 29,733 approvals and 1,948 denials.
• USCIS also received 33,808 O-category petitions throughout FY 2025. This figure includes both initial and extension filings.
• In FY 2025, USCIS adjudicated 31,681 O-category visa petitions. USCIS defines total completions as petitions approved and denied during the reporting period.
• O-category approval rates never fell below 90% throughout the entire FY 2025. The lowest period was September 2025, where USCIS reported a 91.6% approval rate.

O-1 request for evidence (RFE) statistics

• Nearly a fifth of completed O-category cases received an RFE in FY 2025. More specifically, 19.7% of adjudications had to respond to an additional USCIS query between October 2024 and September 2025.
• After receiving an RFE, 70.9% of O-category petitions received an approval. That’s 4,427 RFE approvals out of 6,244 completions in FY 2025.
• The RFE rate rose late in FY 2025. USCIS reported that 20.9% of O-category applications received an RFE in July, then 23.2% in August and 23.7% in September.

O-1 consular visa issuance statistics

• 20,015 O-1 visa stamps were issued in FY 2025. Based on monthly State Department reports, this figure reflects O-1 visa stamps issued by U.S. consular posts abroad. 
• December 2024 had the highest monthly O-1 issuance total in FY 2025. The State Department’s monthly post-and-class report showed 2,146 O-1 issuances in December 2024, followed by 2,111 in January 2025 and 1,782 in August 2025.
• The United Kingdom accounted for the majority of O-1 visa issuances in FY 2025. 3,594 of the total 3,695 U.K. issuances came from London’s U.S. embassy alone.
• FY 2025 monthly O-1 issuance stayed above 1,400 every month. Monthly O-1 issuances ranged from a low of 1,432 in November 2024 to a high of 2,146 in December 2024.
• 19,457 O-1 visas were issued in FY 2024. More specifically, the State Department also reported 1,212 O-1 refusals between October 2023 and September 2024, adding up to 20,669 total O-1 applications that went through consular processing.

O-2 visa issuance statistics

• 15,356 O-2 visas were issued in FY 2025. This category is for individuals who accompany an O-1 artist or athlete to assist with a specific event or performance.
• Within FY 2025, the United Kingdom also took the majority of O-2 visa issuances. U.K. posts accounted for 3,206 O-2 issuances, with Mexican posts closely behind at  2,804 O-2 issuances.
• Last year’s FY 2024 report states 13,922 O-2 visas were issued. Compared with the FY 2025 monthly report totals, O-2 issuance increased by 1,434 visas, or about 10.3%.

O-3 visa issuance statistics

• 6,209 O-3 visas were issued in FY 2025. Included in this classification are the spouses and children of O-1 and O-2 holders.
• Last year’s FY 2024 report states 6,035 O-3 visas were issued. Compared with the FY 2025 monthly report totals, O-3 issuance increased by 174 visas, or about 2.9%.

O-1 processing time statistics

• As of May 2026, USCIS took 12 months to complete 80% of Form I-129 O-category petitions. Several factors affect the time an individual case takes to adjudicate, including case complexity and field office backlogs.
• O-category processing times increased by 4.5 months between December 2025 and May 2026. Most of this increase has been incremental, occurring in 1-month increases between each month. 
• O-1 applicants can cut the average wait time to 15 business days with premium processing. Opting for this service requires petitioners to submit Form I-907 and pay an additional $2,965.