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How many times out of 10 does a visa get renewed in USA
Executive Summary
The claim "how many times out of 10 does a visa get renewed in USA" lacks a single, meaningful nationwide answer because renewal rates differ sharply by visa category, fiscal year, and whether data counts approvals, renewals among approvals, or renewal eligibility. Recent category-specific figures show high approval rates for some visas (O-1 ~93.8% in 2025) and a large share of H‑1B approvals that were renewals (65% renewals of approvals in 2024), but the data do not translate into a single “X out of 10” renewal probability for all visas [1] [2] [3]. The publicly available sources provided address approval shares, issuance counts, and renewal shares within single categories or years, and explicitly note that renewal-specific rates are often not published in an aggregated, cross-category form [4] [5].
1. Why the simple “out of 10” question breaks: mixed math and mixed definitions
The sources show that what gets reported varies: some reports present adjusted refusal or approval rates for initial issuances (so 9.37 out of 10 issued, per an adjusted refusal example), others report the share of approvals that were renewals within a visa class (H‑1B renewals comprised 65% of approvals in 2024), and a few give category-specific approval percentages like O‑1 approval rates near 93.8% [6] [2] [1]. These are different denominators—total applicants versus total approvals versus renewals among approvals—so converting them into a uniform “times out of 10 a visa is renewed” is not possible without re‑defining what the user means by “renewed.” Official statistics often separate initial issuances, visa renewals processed at consulates, and approvals of petition renewals filed with USCIS, so aggregation would require raw microdata that public summaries seldom publish [4] [7].
2. The clearest, category-level signals: H‑1B and O‑1 examples that show high continuation
Category-specific figures provide the clearest guidance: the H‑1B program reported that about 65% of approved H‑1B petitions in 2024 were renewals rather than initial grants, implying that among approved H‑1B petitions in that year, roughly 6.5 out of 10 were renewals [2]. The O‑1 visa approval analysis for 2025 reports an approval rate of 93.8%, which can be interpreted as roughly 9.38 out of 10 applicants receiving approvals, though this is an approval rate, not strictly a renewal rate [1]. These figures illustrate that certain work‑based nonimmigrant visas display high continuation or approval rates, but they cannot be extrapolated to visitor, student, or other categories that have different renewal mechanics and different applicant pools [3].
3. Visitor and student visas: process differences and sparse renewal statistics
For B‑1/B‑2 visitor visas and F‑1 student visas, the publicly summarized data emphasize issuance and refusal rates rather than renewal frequencies, and the renewal process often happens at domestic ports of entry (for admission duration) or at foreign consulates (for new visa stickers), so counts are fragmented. The Department of State and consular guidance describe interview‑waiver expansions and procedural rules that can increase the share of renewals handled without interviews (for example, B‑1/B‑2 renewals within 12 months may be eligible for waivers), but the sources provided did not include a consolidated renewal rate for visitor or student visas [8] [5]. Consequently, for these categories the best available public measures are approval rates or policy changes that affect renewal convenience, not a single renewal probability.
4. Data caveats, timing, and what the provided sources actually report
The available documents and analyses vary in publication timing and scope: the O‑1 analysis is dated September 24, 2025 and reports a 93.8% approval rate [1]; the H‑1B program breakdown citing 65% renewals among approvals is dated March 4, 2025 [2]; a broad US visa statistics summary dated October 1, 2025 gives approval percentages by visa type but does not present renewal shares across categories [3]. Several guidance pages about how to renew a visa or interview‑waiver eligibility are more procedural and lack renewal‑rate statistics [5] [8]. These timing/coverage differences mean that any single percentage offered without specifying visa class, year, and whether it measures approvals or renewals is misleading.
5. Bottom line for the questioner — what a responsible answer looks like
A responsible answer requires specifying the visa class and the measurement: if you mean “what fraction of approved H‑1B petitions in 2024 were renewals,” the answer is about 6.5 out of 10 [2]. If you mean “what fraction of O‑1 filings are approved” in 2025, the answer is about 9.38 out of 10 [1]. If you mean “what fraction of all U.S. visas are renewed,” no single, authoritative public statistic exists in the provided material; official datasets typically report approvals and issuances by visa class and year rather than a consolidated renewal rate [4] [3] [5]. To convert this into a single “times out of 10” figure across all visas would require raw, cross‑category microdata from the Department of State and DHS that reconciles consular renewals, USCIS petition renewals, and entries at the border—data not present in the supplied sources [4].