Do 55 million foreigners with U.S. visas live in the United States, as of August 2025? No, that's not true: Fifty-five million is the number of people around the world who currently hold a visa to enter the U.S, according to a U.S. State Department announcement that it would review all outstanding visas. Some social media posters incorrectly interpreted headlines about that announcement as saying there were 55 million foreigners with visas currently living in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security said there were 12.8 million foreigners with green cards and 3.6 million people with temporary visas in the U.S. last year.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on August 21, 2025. It opened:
It is beyond comprehension that there are 55 million people in this country with a visa.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of a post by the RepMikeCollins account on X.com)
The post included a link to an Associated Press report (archived here) about the State Department announcing that it is "reviewing more than 55 million people who have valid U.S. visas" in a search for anything that might exclude them from entry or staying in the U.S. The AP article did not say that all of those having their visas reviewed live in the United States.
In 2024, the U.S. issued roughly 11 million visas (archived here). Only 6 percent of those visas were in immigrant categories, with the vast majority being for temporary visits, including tourism.
