USCIS ended the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 with 12.1 million pending cases, the highest backlog in the decade of data the American Immigration Council has tracked, even though the agency received 45 percent fewer filings than the same quarter one year earlier. The number comes from the Council’s Filing Trends Dashboard, which draws on the agency’s own quarterly reporting.
Instead of using the lighter workload to catch up, USCIS also completed fewer cases: 1.5 million in the quarter, the eighth straight quarterly decline and less than half of what the agency completed in the same period two years earlier.
Pending Cases Reach a Decade High
The backlog has climbed steadily since the Council’s dataset begins in the first quarter of FY2016, when pending cases stood at just over 3 million. By FY2026 Q2 that figure had reached 12.1 million, a 7.2 percent increase over the prior year.
The estimated time to clear the backlog nearly doubled year over year and jumped again within a single quarter.
| Backlog clearance time | Months |
|---|---|
| FY2025 Q2 | 12.5 months |
| FY2026 Q1 | 18.6 months |
| FY2026 Q2 | 24.1 months |
Approval Rates Are Falling Across Several Categories
Reduced processing capacity has come with more restrictive decisions in a number of pathways. The steepest drops between FY2025 Q2 and FY2026 Q2 show up in humanitarian and employment-based categories alike.
| Form & category | FY2025 Q2 | FY2026 Q2 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-485Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, the form used to apply for a green card from inside the United States.See it in the glossary Adjustment of statusThe process of applying for a green card from within the United States, rather than through a consulate abroad. Filed on Form I-485.See it in the glossary, Cuban nationals | 97.2% | 52.6% | –44.6 pts |
| I-485 adjustment of status, RefugeeA person outside their country of nationality who cannot return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion (INA 101(a)(42)). Admission as a refugee is discretionary, and annual admission levels are set through a Presidential Determination. A person already in the United States or at a port of entry with a similar claim may instead seek asylum.See it in the glossary | 97.4% | 66.1% | –31.3 pts |
| I-140Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, filed by an employer (or in some categories the worker) to classify a person under an employment-based category.See it in the glossary, Extraordinary ability (EB-1A)The EB-1 category for people who can show sustained national or international acclaim, with achievements recognized in their field. The petition must include either a one-time major internationally recognized award or evidence meeting at least three of the criteria listed in 8 CFR 204.5(h)(3). No job offer or labor certification is required, and the person can file the Form I-140 on their own.See it in the glossary extraordinary ability | 72.7% | 41.7% | –31.0 pts |
| I-131, ParoleDiscretionary, temporary permission for a person who may be inadmissible to enter or remain in the United States for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit, set out in INA 212(d)(5). Parole is not an admission, and a paroled person is still treated as an applicant for admission.See it in the glossary in place | 78.6% | 54.5% | –24.1 pts |
| I-140, EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW)A waiver of the job offer and labor certification requirement for certain EB-2 applicants. Under the Matter of Dhanasar framework, USCIS asks whether the proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national importance, whether the person is well positioned to advance it, and whether, on balance, it would benefit the United States to waive the job offer and labor certification requirements. Applicants can file the petition themselves.See it in the glossary | 67.3% | 48.1% | –19.2 pts |
For a side-by-side look at how the EB-1A pathway itself has moved this year, see our earlier coverage of the EB-1A approval share.
The Forms Where Backlogs Grew Fastest
Some of the sharpest pending-case growth happened in forms that actually received fewer filings, a sign that USCIS is not keeping pace even where demand eased.
| Form | Pending FY2025 Q2 |
Pending FY2026 Q2 |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-765 EAD (Employment Authorization Document)A card issued by USCIS on Form I-765 that allows certain noncitizens to work legally while another application is pending or a status permits it.See it in the glossary for applicants with pending adjustment of status | 191,000 | 585,000 | +206% |
| I-485 adjustment of status by refugees | – | – | +190% |
| I-129 nonimmigrant worker petitions (H-1B, L-1, O-1) | 63,000 | 120,000 | +90% |
The I-129 category is notable because it grew even though receipts fell by less than 1 percent and approval rates held steady, edging up from 89.2 percent to 89.6 percent. The backlog grew because completions did not keep up, not because more petitions were filed or more were denied.
One Bright Spot: Employment-Based Green Cards
Approvals for employment-based I-485 adjustment of status applications nearly doubled within the fiscal year, rising from 21,924 in Q1 to 41,979 in Q2. It is a rare improvement in an otherwise slower system, though it does not offset the broader backlog growth described above. Readers tracking the employment-based pipeline more broadly may also want our recent look at the green card backlog, and our adjustment of status comparison in the Visa Library for how the two paths differ procedurally.
What This Means for the Rest of FY2026
The bigger open question is whether USCIS and the State Department can issue all 186,317 available visas this fiscal year before it ends on September 30. That total includes 46,317 numbers that rolled over from unused family-sponsored visas in FY2025, and unused employment-based numbers generally cannot carry into the following year once the deadline passes.
Taken together, the data points to a system processing fewer cases even as it receives fewer filings, which the American Immigration Council describes as a sustained decline in adjudication capacity rather than a temporary dip. Applicants, employers, and families across nearly every category should expect delays to persist rather than ease through the remainder of the fiscal year.