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Historical National Median Processing Time (in Months) for All USCIS Offices for Select Forms By Fiscal Year

Fiscal Year 2017 to 2021 (up to July 31, 2021)



Processing Times (in Months)
Form Form Description Classification or Basis for Filing FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY
20215
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N/A Not available.

  • 1 Excludes EOIR Adjustment applications.
  • 2 Includes I-914A, Application for Family Member of T-1 Recipient.
  • 3 Includes I-918A, Petition for Qualifying Family Member of U-1 Recipient.
  • 4 Includes the following applications filed to waive exclusionary grounds: Forms I-191, I-192, I-212, I-601, I-602, and I-612.
  • 5 FY2021 uses data from October 1, 2020 to July 31, 2021.
  1. The report reflects the most up-to-date estimate available at the time the database is queried.
  2. Processing times may differ from previously published reports due to system updates and post-adjudicative outcomes.
  3. Discrepancies from past historical processing time reports may exist due to differences in reporting procedures.
  4. Some of the forms have been aggregated.
  5. Processing times are defined as the number of months it took for an application, petition, or request to be processed from receipt to completion in a given time period. Visa regressed I-485s and revoked petitions or applications are excluded. Additional information on visa retrogression can be found on our website (https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/visa-availability-priority-dates/visa-retrogression).
  6. The number of months presented is the median. It represents the time it took to complete 50% of the cases in a given time period.
  7. Historical processing times are not comparable to the processing times posted on the USCIS processing times webpage for certain form types due to different methodologies (for example, cycle time methodology versus processing time methodology). For more information, visit the Case Processing Times webpage.
  8. Historically, USCIS has reported the processing time from filing to waiting list determination. On June 14, 2021, USCIS updated the USCIS Policy Manual to implement a new process, referred to as the Bona Fide Determination (BFD). The new policy enables USCIS to review petitions more efficiently, and provide the benefits of employment authorization and deferred action to more petitioners in a shorter time period than the waiting list process. As with the waiting list, petitions will generally be adjudicated under the BFD process in the order they were received. While USCIS implements the BFD process and gathers initial data on the BFD adjudications, including the possible impacts of the new process on overall U adjudications, USCIS is not reporting processing times for the Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status (Form I-918). This page will be updated on January 1, 2022 or once USCIS has collected sufficient data to report accurate BFD processing times, whichever occurs earlier.
  9. Consistent with the July 16, 2021, order (PDF, 401.59 KB) from the Southern District of Texas that prohibits DHS from granting initial DACA requests, USCIS has suspended calculations of processing times for initial DACA requests. The 5.9 months historical processing time listed for initial DACA requests was current as of June 30, 2021.
  10. The federal fiscal year is from October 1st through September 30th.
  1. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS Electronic Immigration System (ELIS), C3 Consolidated, C4 Consolidated, INFACT, queried August 2021.