The US State Department has issued statistics covering US non-immigrant visa rejection rates for the first three quarters of 2010 by nationality. Here’s the list of Arab countries ranked in order of decreasing rejection rates:

1. Somalia – 69.6%
2. Djibouti – 60.2%
3. Yemen – 54.3%
4. Mauritania – 49.7%
5. Comoros – 43.6%
6. Iraq – 42.2%
7. Jordan – 40.1%
8. Palestinian Authority Travel Document – 36.2%
9. Sudan – 32.5%
10. Egypt – 31.3%
11. Syria – 28.4%
12. Lebanon – 22.4%
13. Algeria – 21.9%
14. Tunisia – 15.6%
15. Morocco – 15.5%
16. Libya – 14.3%
17. United Arab Emirates – 9.7%
18. Oman – 8.7%
19. Saudi Arabia – 6.0%
20. Bahrain – 4.1%
21. Kuwait – 3.6%
22. Qatar – 3.2%

Lebanon just barely misses the bottom ten when ranked along with the 21 other Arab countries. So next time you head to Awkar for that visa interview, just remember that you might have a one-in-five chance to be denied a visa to the US.

Consular facility of the U.S. Embassy compound in Awkar