Visas - applications received and refused statistics, NY Consulate

Though you might be interested in these figures ...

Last year, the New York Consulate received 41000 Visa applications and refused about 160 - that's 0.4%.
Of these, 1356 were settlement Visas of which 3 were refused.
The average wait time for settlement visa interviews was "0.0 months".
Visitor visas - 100% were decided "in 24 hours", with just 2 applications waiting over the year end

As a comparison, the busiest Consulate (Lagos) received 115000 applications and refused 22.4% of them.

Source: www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/ Global%20Statistics%20Booklet%202002-03%20-%20Main.pdf

The source clearly states that some figures don't add up exactly due to requests being withdrawn, appeals carrying on over the year end, etc.  I also suspect that they ask people with poor claims to withdraw them / resubmit them rather than processing them all the way through to a refusal.

Looks like a better bet than turning up at Heathrow and hoping if you're on more than a holiday 

Wow!  Thanks for the info!

That is great information! I just wish I had it before I received my Visa.....it would have helped calm the nerves!!
Helena