USCIS processing times

The USCIS offers processing time information for many different kinds of processing:[1][2]

• Processing forms (applications and petitions) at its Service Centers: There are four service centers: California Service Center, Nebraska Service Center, Vermont Service Center, and Texas Service Center. All USCIS immigration forms (but not the naturalization forms) go through Service Centers.[1]
• Field Office processing: This is the final stage of processing for some forms that also require in-person interviews. These include Form I-485, Form N-400 and Form N-600. Note that when Form I-485 is filed concurrently with Form I-130, then the Form I-130 is first processed at the Service Center and then the Form I-485 is processed at the field office. The total wait time is the sum of the wait times for both forms.[1]
• National Benefits Center processing: Some USCIS immigration forms go through the NBC. These are Forms I-102, I-131, I-600, I-601A, I-765, I-817, I-824, and I-90.[1]
• Immigrant Investor Program Office processing: This Office processes Form I-526 petitions whose approval allows one to obtain an EB-5 visa).[1]
• International Operations Offices processing: International Operations offices are used for Direct Consular Filing for some forms, notably I-130 (most international offices), Form I-360, and Form I-730 (available only in some offices).[1]
• Administrative Appeals Office processing: This includes processing for appeals to USCIS decisions for most USCIS forms, with the exception of Form I-130 and Form I-360.[3]

Each form or petition the USCIS receives is put in a queue for processing once it is received by the part of the USCIS (typically a service center or field office) that will process it. The queue that a form is put in depends on two aspects:[1]

• The service center or field office where the form is being processed.
• The type of form (note that the form number alone does not determine the queue, because there may be many categories that use the same form number; for instance, Form I-129 is used for many different kinds of temporary work authorization, and each of them has a separate queue). Note that after initial review, if the form is awaiting a response from the applicant (to a Request For Evidence, Notice of Intent to Deny, or request for clarification), the application is placed in "active suspense" and is not part of the queue.

The queue operates in a standard first in, first out fashion: a form that is put in the queue at a later date will start being reviewed or adjudicated at a later date (there is an exception for those who use the Premium Processing Service discussed later, that can be used for Form I-129 and Form I-140).

The time between the date of receipt of the form by the service center or field office and the date it is reviewed is called the "processing time" of the form. Due to the way the queue operates, the processing times for forms processed close by in time will be similar. Therefore, to estimate processing times for forms that are currently being reviewed, it suffices to know the date of receipt.

On the 15th of every month, the USCIS publishes information, for each of its processing queues (i.e., for every combination of service center/field office/other subdivision and form type) the processing time as observed 45 days ago. For instance, on January 15, 2016, the USCIS published this information for forms being processed as of November 30, 2015. The 45-day gap is to allow the USCIS to verify the data for quality.[1][2][4] Owing to the 45-day delay in reporting, the information published by USCIS may not be very helpful to applicants for some forms whose processing times fluctuate wildly.[4]

The USCIS reports processing times in two formats for each combination of service center and form type. One is "Estimated time range" that could say something like "2 months to 4 months." The other is "Receipt date for a case inquiry" that gives the average date of forms of that type processed on the date for which the report is being generated. For instance, in the data released on January 15, the USCIS reported the dates of forms being processed (for each combination of service center/field office/other subdivision and form category) as of November 30.[1][5]

A few other caveats need to be noted when interpreting reported processing times:

• Initial review only; excludes active suspense: While all forms being processed for initial review are processed in the order in which they were received, forms that are re-processed after receiving a response to a Request For Evidence, Notice of Intent to Deny, or a request for clarification from the applicant may not bear a relationship with the date of receipt of the original form. Forms that are awaiting a response from the applicant are said to be in "active suspense". When reporting processing times, the USCIS removes data on forms in active suspense. This is part of the quality control done by the USCIS and is one of the reasons for the 45-day delay in reporting.[4]
• Data skewed by Premium Processing: The USCIS does not separate out data for petitions that have requested the Premium Processing Service, i.e., its estimate of processing time includes both petitions that have requested Premium Processing and those that have not. While this does not affect form categories ineligible for Premium Processing, it does skew the reported processing times for the forms eligible for Premium Processing. For instance, a Form I-129 petition that did not have a Premium Processing Service request will likely take more time to process than the processing time reported by the USCIS.[4]
• Guidelines for processing times for petitions after they receive a response to a RFE or NOID: There are no general processing times reported for petitions after they receive a response to a RFE or NOID, since it varies from case to case, and it is best to communicate directly with the Service Center.

The USCIS also publishes quarterly reports (i.e., once every three months) for each form giving detailed statistics (by field office/service center location) of the number of applications received, accepted, denied, and pending.[7]

The USCIS offers a Premium Processing Service at an additional fee of $1440 for Form I-129 (non-immigrant worker) and Form I-140 (immigrant worker) petitions. The Premium Processing Service has a fee of $1225 and promises an initial review from the USCIS within 15 calendar days of receipt of the form, after which time it may approve, deny, or issue a Request For Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny.[8] For the special case of cap-subject H-1B visas where the applications are concentrated in the beginning of April, the start date for the 15-day countdown is generally delayed due to the huge influx of applications.[8]

The Premium Processing Service was introduced in 2001 for Form I-129[9] and extended to Form I-140 in 2006.[10]

The USCIS has been asked to extend the Premium Processing Service to Form I-526 (for EB-5 investors) and has also formulated proposals to do so, but as of January 2016, still uses the Premium Processing Service only for Forms I-129 and I-140.[11][12]

• USCIS immigration forms
• Premium Processing Service