USCIS Releases FY2026 First Quarter I-130 Performance Data Showing Diverging Trends in Family-Based Categories
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published its Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, performance data for Fiscal Year 2026, Quarter 1. This offers an updated snapshot of family-based immigration processing and backlogs nationwide. As of December 31, 2025, approximately 2.35 million I-130 petitions remain pending across all categories.
While overall pending volumes remain historically high, the latest data reveals sharply different trajectories for immediate relative petitions compared to family-sponsored preference petitions. Moreover, approval rates, denial rates, and backlog movement all vary significantly between the two categories.
Immediate Relative Petitions Show Net Backlog Reduction
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, including spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents, experienced measurable forward movement during the first quarter of FY2026.
USCIS received 146,726 new immediate relative petitions during the quarter and approved 167,401. Because approvals exceeded receipts, the immediate relative backlog declined by roughly 20,000 cases over the three-month period.
Immediate relative petitions are not subject to annual visa caps, meaning that once approved and otherwise eligible, beneficiaries may proceed without waiting for a priority date to become current. Therefore, improvements in adjudication speed can have a direct impact on overall processing timelines for families in this category.
The national denial rate for immediate relative petitions stands at 8.7 percent, reflecting comparatively straightforward statutory eligibility requirements in many cases. Adjudication practices can vary significantly based on the location where cases are processed.
Preference Category Backlogs Continue to Grow
In contrast, family-sponsored preference petitions—covering adult sons and daughters, married children, and siblings of U.S. citizens, as well as certain relatives of lawful permanent residents—are experiencing increasing backlog pressure.
Although new filings in the preference categories are substantially lower than in the immediate relative categories, pending volume is nearly double. The data shows that approvals are not keeping pace with the accumulated inventory of cases. Additionally, USCIS clears only a small percentage of the existing backlog each quarter.
At current approval rates, USCIS is reducing approximately 1.3 percent of the preference backlog per quarter. If conditions were to remain constant, clearing the existing queue alone would theoretically take close to two decades. This is true even before accounting for new incoming petitions.
The denial rate for preference petitions is significantly higher than for immediate relatives, at 34.3 percent. These elevated denials likely reflect the added legal and documentary complexity common in preference filings. Such complexity often involves priority date retention issues, derivative beneficiary questions, prior petition histories, and more extensive relationship documentation.
Because these categories are also subject to annual numerical caps and per-country limits under the Immigration and Nationality Act, processing backlogs at USCIS intersect with visa availability delays reflected in the U.S. Department of State’s Visa Bulletin. Thus, many beneficiaries face both adjudication and visa quota-related waiting periods.
National Benefits Center Displays Elevated Denial Rates
The first quarter data also highlights notable adjudication trends at the National Benefits Center (NBC). The NBC reported a 55.4 percent denial rate for immediate relative petitions, substantially higher than the national field office average.
The NBC primarily handles cases transferred from service centers for further processing, including interview scheduling and adjudication. Cases that reach this stage often include files flagged for additional review or those requiring closer scrutiny. As a result, the higher denial rate suggests that petitions routed to the NBC may involve greater factual or legal complexity compared to straightforward approvals completed earlier in the pipeline.
For petitioners and beneficiaries, the data signals that case location within the adjudication system can affect processing experiences and outcomes, particularly if a file is transferred for additional review.
Practical Implications for Families, Employers, and Legal Practitioners
The FY2026 Q1 data underscores ongoing structural differences within the family-based immigration system. Immediate relatives are benefiting from improved adjudication efficiency, while preference categories continue to face mounting backlogs and higher denial rates.
For U.S. citizens petitioning spouses, parents, or minor children, recent data suggests modest improvement in adjudication pace at the national level. For families in capped preference categories, however, long-term planning remains critical given the combination of large USCIS inventories and statutory visa limits.
Human resources professionals and multinational employers may also see indirect effects in workforce planning. This is particularly true where employees are awaiting family-based immigration benefits that influence mobility, stability, or adjustment of status timelines.
Attorneys and accredited representatives monitoring case strategy should be aware of the distinct adjudication patterns reflected in the data, including elevated scrutiny at certain processing stages. They should also note significant denial rate disparities between categories.
The FY2026 first quarter I-130 performance report provides a detailed operational snapshot of USCIS adjudication trends. It confirms that, while limited progress has been made in some areas, substantial structural backlogs remain embedded within the family-based immigration system.
