Asylum applications and refugees in the United States of America

117,490 asylum applications by refugees were received in 2021 in the United States of America — according to UNHCR. Most of them came from Venezuela, Colombia and from Guatemala. A total of 39,809 decisions have been made on initial applications. Around 27% of them were answered positively. 73 percent of asylum applications have been rejected in the first instance. The most successful have been the applications of refugees from Cambodia and from Japan.

In a second table below you can find the refugees who fled from United States of America and made their asylum application to other countries.

› Refugee countries by origin and destination

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Incoming asylum applications in the United States of America 2000 to 2021

The top line represents the total number of asylum applications (first applications + reviews). Below are the number of recognized refugees (green) and rejected applications (red).

Asylum applications from foreign refugees in the United States of America

The total number of initial and continuing applications refers to the year 2021. Please note that the number of decisions (acceptances or rejections) does not have to add up with the number of applications because there may still have been open cases from previous years. Also, they don't have to be closed within the same calendar year. In addition, asylum procedures can also be closed, if the applicant disappeared or withdrew the application.

Origin	Applied	Accepted	Rejected	Acceptance rate
	New Applications
Venezuela	22,454	1,507	3,716	28.9 %
Colombia	10,863	228	1,863	10.9 %
Guatemala	9,399	381	2,015	15.9 %
Cuba	8,463	47	193	19.6 %
Haiti	8,275	130	1,215	9.7 %
Honduras	7,073	394	1,275	23.6 %
Mexico	6,093	305	3,226	8.6 %
El Salvador	5,688	291	1,652	15.0 %
China	3,846	1,284	2,033	38.7 %
India	3,436	81	1,114	6.8 %
Russia	3,100	445	821	35.2 %
Nigeria	2,687	312	1,055	22.8 %
Ecuador	2,086	26	1,104	2.3 %
Ethiopia	1,975	368	183	66.8 %
Brazil	1,634	72	405	15.1 %
Nicaragua	1,455	99	167	37.2 %
Egypt	1,452	680	257	72.6 %
Turkey	1,244	1,092	145	88.3 %
Armenia	1,128	39	108	26.5 %
Kenya	903	36	67	35.0 %
Pakistan	865	185	318	36.8 %
Myanmar	624	131	100	56.7 %
Romania	555	13	97	11.8 %
Bangladesh	550	27	312	8.0 %
Kazakhstan	518	66	154	30.0 %
Lebanon	486	27	136	16.6 %
Afghanistan	465	156	33	82.5 %
Ukraine	461	79	314	20.1 %
Jordan	399	67	199	25.2 %
Belarus	377	80	94	46.0 %
Uzbekistan	365	26	68	27.7 %
Nepal	333	18	227	7.3 %
unknown	309	70	146	32.4 %
Peru	288	15	179	7.7 %
Jamaica	265	27	37	42.2 %
Uganda	265	97	122	44.3 %
Chile	263	5	25	16.7 %
Rwanda	241	67	84	44.4 %
Albania	240	31	168	15.6 %
Indonesia	238	14	78	15.2 %
Kyrgyzstan	224	68	103	39.8 %
Cameroon	223	149	113	56.9 %
Iran	198	156	99	61.2 %
Angola	193	14	37	27.5 %
Bolivia	192	5	51	8.9 %
Georgia	192	19	62	23.5 %
Italy	176	0	32	0.0 %
Congo	156	20	64	23.8 %
Argentina	148	0	28	0.0 %
Dominican Republic	147	0	40	0.0 %
South Africa	146	5	70	6.7 %
Iraq	144	146	313	31.8 %
Libya	127	17	64	21.0 %
Sri Lanka	127	11	74	12.9 %
Congo (Dem. Republic)	124	26	78	25.0 %
Hong Kong	122	13	5	72.2 %
Ghana	119	5	31	13.9 %
Serbia	117	18	127	12.4 %
Spain	116	0	28	0.0 %
Saudi Arabia	112	42	15	73.7 %
Azerbaijan	111	45	36	55.6 %
Guinea	111	42	49	46.2 %
Burkina Faso	108	49	90	35.3 %
Syria	108	208	144	59.1 %
Zimbabwe	99	38	32	54.3 %
Vietnam	95	10	26	27.8 %
Ivory Coast	90	11	71	13.4 %
Moldova	90	17	67	20.2 %
Sudan	89	70	66	51.5 %
Eritrea	86	70	30	70.0 %
Philippines	85	5	39	11.4 %
Costa Rica	84	5	32	13.5 %
Hungary	84	0	20	0.0 %
Mongolia	79	17	94	15.3 %
Montenegro	74	5	35	12.5 %
Sierra Leone	73	14	54	20.6 %
Bahamas	69	5	5	50.0 %
Portugal	61	0	19	0.0 %
Togo	60	23	33	41.1 %
Liberia	58	33	83	28.4 %
Mauritania	56	32	79	28.8 %
Mali	56	12	42	22.2 %
Senegal	55	11	45	19.6 %
Yemen	55	27	46	37.0 %
Tunisia	54	10	10	50.0 %
Guyana	49	11	14	44.0 %
Fiji	47	5	22	18.5 %
Tajikistan	42	10	27	27.0 %
Poland	40	5	94	5.1 %
Zambia	39	0	13	0.0 %
Panama	38	5	11	31.3 %
Thailand	37	5	18	21.7 %
Benin	33	5	10	33.3 %
Gambia	32	29	57	33.7 %
Israel	32	5	17	22.7 %
Trinidad and Tobago	29	0	24	0.0 %
South Korea	28	0	10	0.0 %
Belize	27	0	5	0.0 %
France	26	0	0
Equatorial Guinea	24	0	12	0.0 %
Gabon	24	0	13	0.0 %
Morocco	24	10	14	41.7 %
Somalia	23	21	140	13.0 %
Bosnia and Herzegovina	22	0	10	0.0 %
Tanzania	22	0	12	0.0 %
North Macedonia	21	0	14	0.0 %
Algeria	20	5	23	17.9 %
Bhutan	20	0	15	0.0 %
Burundi	19	11	28	28.2 %
Dominica	19	0	5	0.0 %
Germany	19	0	0
Cape Verde	18	0	5	0.0 %
South Sudan	18	5	5	50.0 %
Turkmenistan	18	19	10	65.5 %
Bulgaria	17	5	64	7.2 %
Malaysia	15	5	24	17.2 %
Greece	14	0	12	0.0 %
Kuwait	14	0	5	0.0 %
Niger	14	5	12	29.4 %
Central Africa	13	0	0
Chad	13	5	14	26.3 %
Laos	13	0	32	0.0 %
Canada	11	0	5	0.0 %
Malawi	11	0	16	0.0 %
North Korea	9	0	0
Sweden	9	0	5	0.0 %
Czechia	8	0	5	0.0 %
Japan	8	5	0	100.0 %
Lithuania	8	0	5	0.0 %
Uruguay	8	0	11	0.0 %
United Kingdom	6	0	0
Estonia	5	0	5	0.0 %
Guinea-Bissau	5	0	5	0.0 %
Ireland	5	0	0
Latvia	5	0	17	0.0 %
Mozambique	5	5	0	100.0 %
Oman	5	5	0	100.0 %
Paraguay	5	0	5	0.0 %
Barbados	0	0	0
Cambodia	0	5	0	100.0 %
Djibouti	0	18	17	51.4 %
Micronesia	0	0	0
Grenada	0	0	5	0.0 %
Croatia	0	0	5	0.0 %
Madagascar	0	0	5	0.0 %
Qatar	0	5	0	100.0 %
Slovakia	0	0	5	0.0 %
United Arab Emirates	0	0	11	0.0 %
Totals	117,490	10,705	29,104	26.9 %

Origin	Applied	Accepted	Rejected	Acceptance rate
	Reviews
Venezuela	6,875	521	216	70.7 %
Colombia	1,422	32	120	21.1 %
Guatemala	14,942	1,141	3,184	26.4 %
Cuba	4,524	68	144	32.1 %
Haiti	2,444	24	158	13.2 %
Honduras	13,423	805	2,332	25.7 %
Mexico	9,438	428	2,208	16.2 %
El Salvador	10,236	1,317	3,032	30.3 %
China	2,453	1,332	289	82.2 %
India	2,356	885	380	70.0 %
Russia	1,360	238	29	89.1 %
Nigeria	1,039	164	69	70.4 %
Ecuador	4,472	67	218	23.5 %
Ethiopia	191	85	16	84.2 %
Brazil	3,645	27	234	10.3 %
Nicaragua	3,373	238	347	40.7 %
Egypt	283	117	30	79.6 %
Turkey	336	69	22	75.8 %
Armenia	275	62	32	66.0 %
Kenya	83	21	26	44.7 %
Pakistan	335	78	29	72.9 %
Myanmar	115	34	21	61.8 %
Romania	386	23	52	30.7 %
Bangladesh	929	216	53	80.3 %
Kazakhstan	130	44	5	89.8 %
Lebanon	106	20	5	80.0 %
Afghanistan	68	18	5	78.3 %
Ukraine	466	96	28	77.4 %
Jordan	169	11	10	52.4 %
Belarus	150	59	5	92.2 %
Uzbekistan	350	57	13	81.4 %
Nepal	349	226	50	81.9 %
unknown	196	202	161	55.6 %
Peru	385	17	43	28.3 %
Jamaica	133	10	47	17.5 %
Uganda	126	26	0	100.0 %
Chile	208	0	0
Rwanda	63	25	16	61.0 %
Albania	128	73	15	83.0 %
Indonesia	85	11	11	50.0 %
Kyrgyzstan	115	34	16	68.0 %
Cameroon	289	139	21	86.9 %
Iran	115	41	5	89.1 %
Angola	178	25	24	51.0 %
Bolivia	56	0	0
Georgia	146	29	5	85.3 %
Italy	31	0	0
Congo	112	28	0	100.0 %
Argentina	32	0	0
Dominican Republic	216	0	72	0.0 %
South Africa	70	11	0	100.0 %
Iraq	289	91	25	78.4 %
Libya	58	11	0	100.0 %
Sri Lanka	80	20	23	46.5 %
Congo (Dem. Republic)	253	38	16	70.4 %
Hong Kong	9	0	0
Ghana	141	15	15	50.0 %
Serbia	74	25	10	71.4 %
Spain	22	0	0
Saudi Arabia	33	10	0	100.0 %
Azerbaijan	53	16	0	100.0 %
Guinea	79	32	15	68.1 %
Burkina Faso	75	33	23	58.9 %
Syria	120	52	0	100.0 %
Zimbabwe	28	0	5	0.0 %
Vietnam	156	31	16	66.0 %
Ivory Coast	60	5	5	50.0 %
Moldova	79	30	13	69.8 %
Sudan	92	22	12	64.7 %
Eritrea	116	101	10	91.0 %
Philippines	64	5	17	22.7 %
Costa Rica	39	0	5	0.0 %
Hungary	33	0	5	0.0 %
Mongolia	93	13	0	100.0 %
Montenegro	30	5	0	100.0 %
Sierra Leone	52	0	14	0.0 %
Bahamas	18	0	0
Portugal	17	0	0
Togo	46	16	0	100.0 %
Liberia	62	5	24	17.2 %
Mauritania	69	11	5	68.8 %
Mali	29	5	0	100.0 %
Senegal	103	15	10	60.0 %
Yemen	88	5	14	26.3 %
Tunisia	11	0	0
Guyana	38	0	0
Fiji	18	0	0
Tajikistan	39	10	0	100.0 %
Poland	66	0	0
Zambia	8	0	0
Panama	28	0	0
Thailand	23	0	5	0.0 %
Benin	23	0	0
Gambia	48	5	5	50.0 %
Israel	22	0	0
Trinidad and Tobago	43	0	5	0.0 %
South Korea	27	0	5	0.0 %
Belize	15	13	0	100.0 %
France	16	0	0
Equatorial Guinea	10	0	0
Gabon	9	0	0
Morocco	23	5	0	100.0 %
Somalia	69	11	23	32.4 %
Bosnia and Herzegovina	7	0	5	0.0 %
Tanzania	5	0	0
North Macedonia	8	0	0
Algeria	19	5	5	50.0 %
Bhutan	27	0	5	0.0 %
Burundi	35	10	0	100.0 %
Dominica	0	0	0
Germany	14	0	10	0.0 %
Cape Verde	5	0	0
South Sudan	8	0	5	0.0 %
Turkmenistan	15	0	0
Bulgaria	15	5	0	100.0 %
Malaysia	23	0	0
Greece	7	0	0
Kuwait	10	0	0
Niger	21	5	0	100.0 %
Central Africa	5	0	0
Chad	5	0	0
Laos	18	0	5	0.0 %
Canada	12	0	0
Malawi	10	0	0
North Korea	0	0	0
Sweden	5	0	0
Czechia	0	0	0
Japan	5	0	0
Lithuania	6	0	0
Uruguay	17	0	0
United Kingdom	6	0	0
Estonia	0	0	0
Guinea-Bissau	0	0	0
Ireland	0	0	0
Latvia	12	0	0
Mozambique	0	0	0
Oman	0	0	0
Paraguay	6	0	0
Barbados	5	0	5	0.0 %
Cambodia	14	0	5	0.0 %
Djibouti	13	10	0	100.0 %
Micronesia	5	0	5	0.0 %
Grenada	0	0	0
Croatia	0	0	0
Madagascar	0	0	0
Qatar	5	0	0
Slovakia	6	0	0
United Arab Emirates	15	0	0
Totals	92,892	9,885	14,173	41.1 %

Asylum applications of refugees from United States of America

The United States of America is one of the countries where refugees are not only coming in. In the year 2021, there have been 440 asylum applications received from citizens from United States of America in other countries. The most successful have been the applications in Mexico and in the United Kingdom.

Destination	Applied	Accepted	Rejected	Acceptance rate
	New Applications
Canada	214	30	818	3.5 %
United Kingdom	54	5	5	50.0 %
Mexico	53	11	5	68.8 %
Spain	19	5	25	16.7 %
Germany	17	0	13	0.0 %
Netherlands	14	0	5	0.0 %
France	13	0	19	0.0 %
Sweden	13	0	13	0.0 %
Australia	11	0	5	0.0 %
Switzerland	9	0	5	0.0 %
Ireland	7	0	5	0.0 %
Italy	6	0	5	0.0 %
Belarus	5	0	5	0.0 %
South Korea	5	0	0
Belgium	0	0	5	0.0 %
Totals	440	51	933	5.2 %

Destination	Applied	Accepted	Rejected	Acceptance rate
	Reviews
Canada	278	15	268	5.3 %
United Kingdom	0	0	0
Mexico	0	0	0
Spain	0	0	0
Germany	13	0	0
Netherlands	5	0	5	0.0 %
France	7	0	5	0.0 %
Sweden	14	0	16	0.0 %
Australia	5	0	0
Switzerland	0	0	0
Ireland	0	0	0
Italy	0	0	0
Belarus	0	0	0
South Korea	0	0	0
Belgium	0	0	0
Totals	322	15	294	4.9 %

National migrant stock from 1960 to 2020

In 2020 a total of 50,632,836 migrants lived in the United States, representing about 75 percent of the total population. These are all residents who live permanently in the country but were born in another country. The numbers includes granted refugees but no asylum seekers. The data are based on the results of censuses, as well as on estimates and projections from the United Nations Population Division.

(Values of the graph in millions of immigrants)

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