Morocco ranks third in the list of Arab countries whose citizens have obtained a visa for the United States of America.
According to a report published by the US State Department, Moroccans obtained a total of 4,065 entry visas to the United States, of which 2,554 visas were granted under the Diversity Visa (DV) program, intended for countries with a low rate of immigration to the United States.
In addition, more than 700 visas were issued to Moroccans with close family ties, while 673 visas were granted under the family preference program, which issues visas for defined family relationships, to people with a distant relationship with a U.S. citizen or to persons with a definite relationship to a lawful permanent resident.
In the same ranking, Egypt tops the list of Arab countries that have obtained this visa, with a total of 5,293 visas, followed by Yemen with 5,222 visas.
According to the same US State Department report, there has been a steady increase in the number of visas granted to Moroccan immigrants in the United States over the past ten years. The number of visas issued to Moroccans increased from over 1,500 in 2012 to over 2,000 in 2016. However, the rate of Moroccan immigration to the United States slowed between 2017 and 2018, from 1,300 to 1,100.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also played a role in this trend. It caused a significant drop in 2020 due to travel restrictions that affected global migration. In 2020, just over 900 visas were issued to Moroccan nationals.
In addition, the total number of Moroccans who obtained visas in 2021 was 3,585 visas, of which 2,060 obtained visas as first-degree relatives of American citizens, 1,113 obtained visas for various reasons, 362 for family reasons. , 34 obtained visas as private immigrants and 16 for professional reasons.
In general, the number of visas granted by the United States of America has decreased significantly over the past ten years, from 235,616 visas in 2012 to 170,604 visas in 2021.