USCIS Reports High I-140 Pending Inventory in FY2026 First Quarter
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released its quarterly statistical report for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, covering the first quarter of fiscal year 2026. The data provides a detailed breakdown of receipts, approvals, and pending inventory by employment-based preference category, country of birth, and state of filing.
As of the end of FY2026 Q1, USCIS reported 186,875 pending I-140 petitions. During the same period, the agency approved 47,922 petitions. The volume of pending cases—nearly four times the number of quarterly approvals—highlights sustained demand in the employment-based immigrant visa system and continuing pressure on adjudication capacity.
The quarterly figures provide important context for foreign nationals, U.S. employers, and practitioners tracking processing flows and priority date movement in the employment-based green card categories.
National Interest Waiver Petitions Form the Largest Backlog Segment
NIW Receipts, Approvals, and Pending Volume
The data shows that National Interest Waiver (NIW) petitions account for the largest share of the pending I-140 inventory. In the first quarter of FY2026, USCIS received 13,829 NIW petitions but approved 2,380 during the same period, representing an approval rate of approximately 17 percent for that quarter’s adjudications.
At the close of the quarter, 82,812 NIW petitions remained pending. This figure constitutes a substantial portion of the overall 186,875-case backlog and reflects ongoing high filing volumes in the EB-2 NIW classification.
NIW petitions allow certain foreign nationals seeking classification under the EB-2 category to request a waiver of the job offer and labor certification requirements if they can demonstrate that their proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national importance and that waiving the job offer requirement would benefit the United States.
Practical Implications for EB-2 Applicants
The disparity between NIW receipts and approvals in Q1 underscores the challenges facing self-petitioning professionals who rely on this pathway. A large pending inventory can result in extended processing times, increased requests for evidence, and heightened scrutiny as adjudications progress throughout the fiscal year.
For employers and foreign nationals considering EB-2 strategies, the size of the NIW backlog may influence case preparation timelines and expectations regarding adjudication pace.
Country of Birth Trends: India and China Lead Filings
The FY2026 Q1 report also highlights continued concentration of I-140 demand among beneficiaries born in India and China.
During the quarter, India-born beneficiaries accounted for 15,739 I-140 petition receipts, more than double the 7,386 filings attributed to beneficiaries born in China, the second-highest country. USCIS approved 17,035 petitions for India-born beneficiaries during the same period. The higher number of approvals relative to new receipts likely reflects adjudications of petitions filed in earlier reporting periods rather than solely Q1 filings.
These filing and approval patterns are consistent with longstanding demand trends in employment-based immigration, particularly in the EB-2 and EB-3 classifications, where per-country limits often result in significant visa backlogs for applicants from India and China.
Broader Processing Patterns and What to Watch in FY2026
Approval-to-Pending Ratio
The overall ratio between quarterly approvals and the total pending inventory indicates that, at current adjudication levels, USCIS faces an extensive pipeline of cases moving into subsequent quarters. While approvals are ongoing, new filings continue to contribute significantly to the existing backlog.
Because quarterly data captures both new receipts and adjudications of older cases, trends should be evaluated across multiple quarters to determine whether approval rates accelerate, stabilize, or decline as FY2026 progresses.
Impact on Employers and Foreign Nationals
For U.S. employers sponsoring foreign workers for permanent residence, the size of the pending inventory may affect workforce planning, particularly where employees rely on I-140 approval for eligibility under provisions such as H-1B extensions beyond the standard six-year limit.
For foreign nationals, especially those filing under the NIW category or from high-demand countries, the data underscores the importance of monitoring processing updates and visa bulletin movement in conjunction with USCIS adjudication statistics.
USCIS publishes Form I-140 quarterly data reports on its website, and cumulative information from subsequent FY2026 quarters will provide a more complete picture of whether current backlog levels represent a temporary surge or a continuing structural trend in employment-based immigration processing.
