USCIS processing times: how to read the median, the 80% line and pending cases

Last updated 2026-10-21 · General information, not legal advice

USCIS publishes at least three numbers that people call the processing time, and they answer different questions: the median processing time of the cases completed in a quarter, the 80% line on the processing-times page, and the pending and completed counts in the quarterly report. This page puts the three side by side for the N-400 and then says what each one is good for.

Quarterly figures come from the USCIS quarterly report for FY2026 Q3 (Apr–Jun 2026); the 80% line comes from the 2026-11-06 snapshot of the processing-times page. Sources and definitions: data source and downloads.

What each number answers

One form, three numbers: the N-400

The quarterly figures below are for FY2026 Q3 (Apr–Jun 2026).

The first number, the median. The ordinary N-400 (the report lists the Military row separately and it is not added in here) had 67,565 completions this quarter, with a median processing time of 9.5 months.

The second number, the 80% line. The N-400 at four field offices on the processing-times page (2026-11-06 snapshot):

The last column is the 93% line: the inquiry option opens only when your receipt date is earlier than that date. The median is one national figure for one quarter; the 80% line is an office figure for the past six months. They also sit at different places in the distribution: one is the case in the middle, the other the case at the 80% mark. Setting one office's 80% line against the national median, cell by cell, tells you little.

The third number, pending and completed. The table takes three quarterly reports this site has archived, ordinary N-400 only:

If the last column grows, more cases were waiting at the end of the quarter; if it shrinks, fewer. Within a row, received against completed shows whether more came in than went out. The three rows are not all adjacent quarters, and a quarter that is not archived has no figures here, so count the gap from the quarter labels when you read the trend. This site lists only these raw counts and does not divide pending by completed to say "months still to wait".

Change the form and the three numbers read differently

Swap the N-400 for another form and several lines in the previous section turn wrong:

• Family-based and employment-based I-485: for the cases subject to a visa queue, approval waits for a visa number. If the priority date is not current, USCIS has no legal power to approve. The report's family-based I-485 row, which does not separate immediate relatives from the preference categories, shows 611,067 cases pending at quarter end, and some of them are waiting on that queue. Pending divided by completed then gives a number that follows the visa queue and has no link to how fast USCIS works. The median of 7 months (family-based) covers only the cases that were completed.
• N-400: the report has a separate Military row with its own figures, so keep it apart from the ordinary N-400.
• A median shown as "—": a few rows have completed cases while USCIS reports a median of 0, for example the I-131 initial parole document for people outside the United States. This site does not treat that as 0 months, or as a figure at all.

All of these figures for each form are on the data by form pages, each with a "nationwide: pending and completed" section.

How to use the three numbers

• To see whether a form is moving fast overall, or has slowed over the year: look at the median and at the pending and completed counts over time. The FY2026 Q3 roundup is in which forms slowed.
• To see whether your own case is slow for its office: look at the 80% line. Find your form, category and office in the processing-times tables. The inquiry option opens only when your receipt date is earlier than the date in the last column; how to file is in the case inquiry guide.
• To see whether the line is getting longer or shorter: look at pending at quarter end, read together with received and completed.

None of these three numbers is a court's threshold. A court deciding unreasonable delay looks at the facts of your case under the six TRAC factors: see when you can sue. To see where your own case stands, take the 60-second check.

Frequently asked questions

My case is past the median processing time. Is something wrong?

Not necessarily. The median is the case in the middle of those completed, so half of the completed cases were slower than it. USCIS's "normal range" is the 80% line. Even past the 80% line you are only slower than most similar cases, which does not by itself mean you can sue.

Is pending the same as backlog?

This site does not write it that way. In the report, Pending is the number of cases awaiting a decision at the end of the period and does not separate cases already past the normal time. USCIS publishes a separate "Net Backlog and Frontlog" report, and "backlog" belongs to that one. So here it is called pending.

Why not divide pending by completed to get months to wait?

That arithmetic assumes first-in, first-out and a constant pace, and neither is guaranteed. For forms limited by the visa queue, such as the preference-category part of family-based and employment-based I-485, some pending cases are waiting on a visa number and the result means nothing. To read a trend, use the raw counts.

How often do these numbers update?

The 80% line syncs weekly. The quarterly report comes once a quarter; after USCIS publishes it, this site reads it in at the next weekly sync and the pages update. Every archive and the download addresses are on data source and downloads.

After the three numbers

If your receipt date is past the threshold for your form, we prepare and file the mandamus complaint for a flat $3,500. Start by seeing where you stand:

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