The wealth of a visitor’s home country is certainly not the ultimate reason US officials deny visas. Officially, the most common reason is “failure to establish entitlement to nonimmigrant status.” It accounted for over three fourths of the rejections last year.

It’s the reason immigration officials use when they think the applicant is likely to stay permanently in the US rather than leaving before their visa expires.

A number of countries saw their visa refusal rate increase significantly between 2015 and 2019, as their geopolitical relationship with the US deteriorated.

The US pulled out from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, bombed Libya targeting Islamic State terrorists in 2016, imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2017, listed Chad as one of the travel ban countries in 2017, and added Nigeria to the travel ban list in January 2020.

Here’s what the chance of getting a travel visa to the US looks like across the globe:

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