Sri Lanka → United States
Visitor visa (B1/B2) refusal rate, FY2006–FY2025
Sri Lanka's adjusted refusal rate for US visitor (B) visas was 33.35% in FY2025. That ranks 94 of 198 nationalities — higher than 53% of countries. It rose 3.59 points from 29.76% in FY2024. Against FY2019, the last pre-pandemic year published, it is 1.77 points lower. Over the 18 published years its highest was 40.80% (FY2009) and its lowest 19.50% (FY2014). Within South Asia it ranks 6 of 8.
For context, across all nationalities in FY2024 the US refused 27.8% of B1/B2 applications and 41.0% of F-1 student applications. Those are worldwide figures — the government does not publish an F-1 refusal rate for Sri Lanka or for any single country. Why not.
The full published history
Get told when this changes
The State Department publishes these figures once a year with no announcement, and has skipped years entirely. We check the source daily and will email you when the number for Sri Lanka moves. No newsletter, no marketing — just the data changing.
Closest peers by current rate
| Country | FY2025 | Rank | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Korea (no page) | 33.33% | #95 | |
| Montenegro | 33.41% | #93 | |
| Colombia | 32.84% | #96 | |
| Fiji | 32.83% | #97 | |
| Ukraine | 33.92% | #92 |
South Asia
| Country | FY2025 | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Nepal | 69.47% | #14 |
| Afghanistan | 63.25% | #29 |
| Bangladesh | 61.45% | #33 |
| Bhutan | 56.03% | #43 |
| Pakistan | 52.32% | #53 |
| India | 22.04% | #122 |
| Maldives | 10.60% | #164 |
Every published year
| Fiscal year | Refusal rate | Change |
|---|---|---|
| FY2006 | 22.30% | — |
| FY2007 | 28.20% | +5.90 |
| FY2008 | 31.40% | +3.20 |
| FY2009 | 40.80% | +9.40 |
| FY2010 | 28.60% | -12.20 |
| FY2011 | 25.20% | -3.40 |
| FY2012 | 34.70% | +9.50 |
| FY2013 | 20.60% | -14.10 |
| FY2014 | 19.50% | -1.10 |
| FY2015 | 22.07% | +2.57 |
| FY2016 | 21.69% | -0.38 |
| FY2019 | 35.12% | +13.43 |
| FY2020 | 36.00% | +0.88 |
| FY2021 | 25.34% | -10.66 |
| FY2022 | 22.13% | -3.21 |
| FY2023 | 26.61% | +4.48 |
| FY2024 | 29.76% | +3.15 |
| FY2025 | 33.35% | +3.59 |
FY2017 and FY2018 are absent because the State Department never published them.
Source
US Department of State, Calculation of the Adjusted Visa Refusal Rate for Tourist and Business Travelers Under the Guidelines of the Visa Waiver Program, FY2006–FY2025. One PDF per fiscal year. Primary source ↗
The adjusted rate is (refusals − overcomes) ÷ (issuances + refusals − overcomes),
counting each applicant once per fiscal year at final status and excluding cases that required a
waiver of ineligibility. Rank, change, volatility and peer figures on this page are computed by us
from that data and are not published by the government.