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How did U.S. tourist visa approval rates change under the Biden administration versus the Trump administration?
Executive summary
Available reporting in the provided collection shows that approval rates for some U.S. nonimmigrant work visas — especially H‑1B — fell sharply during the Trump administration and rebounded under Biden, with some accounts saying H‑1B approval rates dropped to the low 70s under Trump and rose above 95% under Biden [1]. Other pieces in the set document higher denial and RFE activity under Trump and describe Biden actions to roll back some of those policies [2] [3]. Coverage here is uneven across visa categories and years; the sources emphasize H‑1B data and policy shifts rather than a single, uniform “tourist visa” approval-rate time series [1] [4].
1. What the numbers in these sources actually measure — H‑1B focus, not all tourist visas
Most of the sources provided concentrate on employment‑based visas (notably H‑1B) or on policy changes that affect many nonimmigrant categories; they do not offer a single authoritative table comparing “tourist (B1/B2) visa approval rates” under each administration. For example, The Hindu’s data discussion highlights H‑1B approval rates falling to about 72.6% in late 2018 and rising to above 95% under Biden through 2021 [1]. Migration Policy and Pew pieces similarly discuss H‑1B denial and RFE patterns rather than an overall tourist‑visa approval time series [4] [3].
2. Trump-era tightening: higher denials, more scrutiny, and policy tools
Multiple documents in the set portray the Trump years as a period of increased scrutiny and higher denial rates for certain visas. Migration Policy notes that dips and rebounds in approvals often reflect heavier scrutiny and administrative adjustments [4]. Law‑firm summaries and commentary in these results report higher H‑1B denial rates and increased Requests for Evidence (RFEs) during Trump’s first term — one source cites denial rates rising to roughly 24% under Trump versus much lower percentages under Biden [5]. These accounts frame Trump policies as intentionally restrictive, using tools such as enhanced vetting, travel bans, and operational changes that affected approvals [6] [7].
3. Biden’s reversal and rebound in approvals — administrative choices mattered
The sources show the Biden administration reversed or reviewed many Trump measures, and that approvals for certain categories rebounded. The Hindu reports an H‑1B approval rate surge back above 95% under Biden, even peaking near 98% in their plotted period through 2021 [1]. Pew and other reporting indicate Biden rolled back policies that had increased denials and signaled a review of H‑1B practices, which helps explain falling denial rates and fewer RFEs reported after 2021 [3] [2].
4. Important caveats: pandemic effects, timing, and differing metrics
The story is not simply “Trump down, Biden up.” Migration Policy stresses that application volumes, operational backlogs, pandemic disruptions (FY2019–20), and changes in how adjudicators use RFEs can all drive year‑to‑year swings in approvals and denials, so administrative effects mix with procedural and external factors [4]. The Hindu’s chart covers October 2015–December 2021 and is H‑1B‑specific; therefore, claims about “tourist visa approval rates” are not supported by those same data points unless one cites different, category‑specific sources [1] [4].
5. Competing perspectives and where the debate remains
Proponents of Trump‑era policy argued tougher scrutiny reduced fraud and better protected U.S. workers; critics said it created unnecessary barriers and delays [6] [7]. Supporters of Biden’s approach frame reversals and easing of RFE practices as restoring access to global talent, while opponents worry about less enforcement or different national security trade‑offs [2] [3]. The sources here document both administrative actions and their consequences but do not settle normative disagreements about which approach is superior [4] [3].
6. What’s not found in these sources and next steps for better comparison
Available sources do not present a consolidated, administration‑wide numeric comparison for all tourist (B1/B2) visa approval rates across the Trump and Biden presidencies. To answer the original query more definitively for tourist visas would require Department of State monthly nonimmigrant visa issuance statistics or the State Department’s Visa Office reports broken down by visa class and year — documents not included in the provided set (not found in current reporting). If you want, I can fetch and synthesize those State Department Visa Office reports (month/year breakdowns) to produce a direct Trump‑vs‑Biden comparison for B1/B2 approval rates.