New Data on Mexican Visitor Travel to Arizona

By Alan Hoogasian
Research Economist

According to 2014 estimates, approximately 10M Mexican visitor parties travel to Arizona annually and spend an average of $247 per trip. This spending generates an annual impact of $2.5B and supports about 30,000 jobs throughout the state. One major factor affecting Mexican visitor travel to the state is U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy on nonimmigrant visas. These policies govern the number of visas that can be issued and the privileges that each visas carries. B-type visas are issued for tourism and business travel and are valid for a period of up to 10 years. These visas allow Mexican nationals to petition for entry to the United States. For example, the districts of Nogales and Hermosillo in Sonora have issued 1.3M nonimmigrant visas over the past 10 years. This means that there are about 1.3M eligible visitors who may make frequent trips to Arizona. For Mexico as a whole in 2015, Mexico City and Monterrey issued the most nonimmigrant visas, as the figure below shows:

Figure 1: Nonimmigrant visas issued at districts in Mexico border states and Mexico City

In an effort to provide Arizonans and other community stakeholders with data and information on nonimmigrant visas issued, the Arizona Mexico Economic Indicators team has designed a new webpage: Nonimmigrant visas issued. Here you will find information about what type of B visas are available, how they differ, and how visa issuing districts in Mexico Border States compare. You will also find an array of features such as charts and a table from which the data can be downloaded, plus a brand new interactive map tool . Check out the new AZMEX visas page.  Also stay tuned to the Arizona-Mexico Economic Indicators website for upcoming research on the relationship between the State of Arizona and Mexico’s automotive industry.

Title photo courtesy of Pexels.