USCIS Backlog FY2026 Q3: Overview
The USCIS backlog FY2026 Q3 report was released by USCIS covering the period from April 1 through June 30, 2026. It reveals that the agency ended the quarter with 12,807,907 cases pending across all benefit types. The USCIS backlog for FY2026 Q3 reflects a system processing roughly 1.58 million cases finished in the quarter against 2.18 million new cases filed. That gap keeps pressure on overall wait times even as some individual form types show fairly good speed. For people and employers currently waiting on immigration benefits, the numbers tell a story that goes well beyond the top-line figure.
Background
USCIS puts out workload numbers every quarter as part of its Office of Performance and Quality reporting. The data covers every major benefit form the agency decides. This includes family-based petitions, employment permits, citizenship applications, and EB-5 investor filings. These reports express processing time as a median: the number of months it took to complete 50 percent of all cases processed during the quarter. That definition matters because median processing times can hide wide differences within a form type. Pending counts reflect only cases still waiting for a decision at the end of the quarter — they do not include cases closed by staff or moved between offices.
Earlier quarterly reports have shown steady backlog growth over multiple fiscal years. This pattern is driven by the number of incoming filings, staff levels, policy-driven changes, and how hard certain benefit types are to decide. The FY2026 Q3 report continues along that same path.
What the USCIS Backlog FY2026 Q3 Data Shows
The agency received approximately 2.18 million new filings during the third quarter and completed roughly 1.58 million cases. This left the agency-wide pending total at just over 12.8 million. That total is the same across both the quarter-end count and the year-to-date pending column. This shows the figure is the full queue, not just one quarter’s leftover cases.
Family and Humanitarian Filings
Several form types stand out for their size or wait times. The I-130 Petition for Alien Relative for preference (non-immediate) relatives had a pending total of 1,617,823 with a median wait of 43.3 months. That is by far the longest median in the data, reflecting both legally set per-country limits and USCIS’s caseload. The I-589 affirmative asylum application showed 1,392,782 cases pending. Because USCIS does not report a wait time for this form, how deep that queue is hard to tell from this data alone. The I-918 U visa petition held 480,114 pending cases with a reported median of 15.2 months. The notes make clear that figure reflects time to Bona Fide Determination review, not a final decision.
Employment-Based Filings
On the employment side, the I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker showed 192,712 pending with a 9.5-month median. The I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers carried 203,204 pending at a 3.9-month median. Employment permit applications (I-765) cover four separate groups. The DACA-related I-765s had 231,872 pending at 4.1 months, and the matching I-821D Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals showed 228,969 pending at the same 4.1-month median.
Waivers, TPS, and Naturalization
Waivers cover forms including the I-601, I-192, I-212, and related applications. They showed 575,908 pending with a median of 36.3 months, one of the longest wait times in the report. Temporary Protected Status applications (I-821) had 567,110 cases pending at a 15.5-month median. The I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence carried 339,830 pending at 22.6 months. For naturalization, the standard N-400 showed 727,371 pending with a 9.5-month median. The military N-400 category had 14,767 pending at a much faster 2.6-month median.
EB-5 and Investor Filings
EB-5 and investor-related filings remain a smaller segment by volume but notable for processing times. The legacy I-526 standalone investor petition showed 858 pending at 32.3 months. Meanwhile, the I-526E Regional Center investor petition carried 11,192 pending at 13.6 months. Meanwhile, the legacy I-526 (pre-June 2022 editions) showed 960 pending at 99.2 months. That figure reflects the aged inventory of cases filed under the prior program structure.
Who Is Affected by the USCIS Backlog FY2026 Q3
The data touches nearly every category of immigration benefit seeker, but certain groups face the biggest real-world effects. Families separated by preference-category backlogs face wait times measured in years, even before a visa number is available. This is particularly true for those with I-130s filed under “all other relative” categories. Asylum seekers with directly filed I-589s face a huge queue with no published median wait time. U visa filers face a double burden. They must wait for a bona fide determination and then a further period before a final decision.
Employers backing workers through I-129 petitions face nearly a ten-month median for nonimmigrant worker approvals. That timeline requires careful early planning for cap-exempt filings, extensions, and status changes. Those pursuing permanent residence through I-140 and concurrent I-485 filings will find that employment-based adjustment applications show a 6.0-month median. This figure applies only where a visa number is currently open, and it does not account for visa bulletin backlogs that govern actual availability.
The I-526E and legacy petition queues directly affect EB-5 investors and regional center participants, adding to the USCIS backlog FY2026 Q3. People seeking advance parole through the I-131 or removal of conditions through the I-751 face multi-month waits. These delays directly affect travel, work permit continuity, and conditional resident status.
Practical Implications of the USCIS Backlog FY2026 Q3
The gap between forms received and cases finished this quarter was roughly 600,000 more filings than decisions. This means the backlog is not really shrinking at current processing speeds. Petitioners and applicants should plan filing timelines with substantial buffers, especially for benefit types with medians over 20 months.
For employment-based cases, the 9.5-month I-129 median shows why premium processing still matters for time-sensitive nonimmigrant worker cases. Where premium processing does not cover a given benefit type or classification, employers should plan for a longer wait. This affects setting start dates, project assignments, and compliance planning.
For family-based filers, the 43.3-month median for preference-relative I-130s means a petition approved today begins a long wait. Combined with visa availability timelines, that wait could grow much longer. The 13.0-month median for immediate relative I-130s shows faster movement. It still means more than a year to a decision at the petition stage alone.
The waiver backlog has a 36.3-month median across 575,908 pending cases. It is a key planning point for anyone whose immigration path needs an inadmissibility waiver. A 36-month median means half of all waivers finished this quarter had waited three or more years. Applicants should begin waiver preparation as early as possible in any qualifying process.
Open questions remain about wait-time trends. This report gives a single quarter’s picture, and USCIS has not published any forward-looking estimates for backlog reduction in this data set.
What to Watch For Next
USCIS will publish a fourth-quarter FY2026 report covering July through September 2026. That report will give a full-year picture of filings, cases finished, and the year-end pending total. Those managing time-sensitive cases should watch whether processing speed in Q4 narrows or widens the gap seen this quarter. Any policy or operational changes could affect those figures a lot. This includes changes to staff levels, premium processing availability, or decision priorities between now and September.
How Immigration Professional Association Can Help
Understanding what these numbers mean for a specific petition, employer plan, or family case takes more than reading overall statistics. It requires matching the data against the actual facts of your situation. Immigration Professional Association works with applicants and employers across the full range of benefit types shown in this report. This includes family-based petitions and adjustment applications, employment-based sponsorship and nonimmigrant worker filings, EB-5 and investor visa matters, humanitarian applications including U visa and TPS cases, and citizenship cases.
For employers, our team helps plan petition timelines and compliance strategies that fit current processing realities — not ideal assumptions. For individuals and families, we help find where in a multi-step process the current backlog affects you. We also identify what options may exist to cut unneeded wait time and how to keep a case in the best possible shape while it is pending.
If you have a case currently in the USCIS queue — or are weighing when and how to file — we invite you to contact us. Immigration Professional Association offers a consultation based on the current processing environment this report shows.
