USCIS I-130 Processing Time

Electronic Immigration System

— Receipt # IOE

Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative is the first step in sponsoring a family member for a Green Card. Processing times vary depending on the category type.

Petitions filed from within the U.S. together with an Adjustment of Status (Form I-485) are typically processed the fastest. Our data indicates that Immediate Relatives (IR) of U.S. citizens (spouses, parents, and children under 18) going through consular processing are currently taking about 14 months. Other family-based categories are subject to annual visa quotas, which often result in significantly longer processing times.

With the Ultimate Tracker, powered by our advanced prediction software, you can access personalized estimates and real-time insights for your IR-1, CR-1, IR-2 or IR-5 consular case.

To better understand the differences between Immediate Relative and Family Preference categories, visit our FAQ.

What does the current case backlog look like?

This graph shows the status of I-130 cases (with receipt # IOE09) received by USCIS in the last 2 years.

The backlog helps us understand the big picture. For example, we can see that USCIS generally processes cases in the order they were received.

Newer cases are shown on the right side of the graph. They mostly have the Case Received status. On the other side of the graph, around 80% of the old cases have been processed - either Approved or Denied. The remaining ~20% reflects cases that will take longer based on immigration quotas or individual case complexity.

While the backlog chart is a rich source of data, it isn't able to answer all questions. To see how fast USCIS is processing cases and to see exactly what month they are working on, we need to look at the graphs below.

To learn more about each status, visit our FAQ page.

How many cases is USCIS processing?

USCIS processing rate has greatly increased since November 2022. The processing rate now appears to be leveling off at around 2000 cases per working day (on average).

Which months are currently being processed?

What does ULTIMATE TRACKER offer?

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Your Estimate

Forecast Overview

Get a clear understanding of when you should hear back from USCIS

Your odds of hearing back from USCIS grouped by each of the four 25 percentiles.
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Your Estimate

Weekly Forecast

See your chances of hearing back for each of the coming weeks

A bar graph presenting your odds of hearing back from USCIS each week.
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Your Position

Check how many cases are ahead of you in line

A progress bar showing your starting position and your current position in the USCIS backlog.
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Your Odds

See your odds of moving to each of next possible statuses

Pie charts showing odds of each next status.

Case Details

See your case status, history, and receive email alerts as soon as your status changes! We check your case status once per hour using USCIS’s official developer API

Case Was Approved date

Response for Additional Evidence was Received date

Request for Additional Evidence Was Sent date

Case Received date

Your Neighbors

Overview

Understand how your case compares to other cases who filed around the same time as you

Received

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RFE

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RFER

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Approved

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DOS

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Denied

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Rejected

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Withdrawn

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Received

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RFE

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Approved

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DOS

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Denied

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Withdrawn

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Your Neighbors

Breakdown

See how USCIS’ progress for your filing date compares to their progress on nearby dates

A bar graph showing the absolute distribution of statuses for neighboring cases.

Your Neighbors

Recent Status Changes

Keep up with the latest USCIS activity in your date range

A bar graph showing recent status changes for the last 28 days.

Processing Time

Historical Wait Time

Get the “big picture” and see how USCIS wait times have changed over the last 12 months

A line chart showing the USCIS historical wait time over the last year.

Processing Time

Current Wait Time

See how long recently processed cases waited, depending on whether they were approved, denied, or rejected

A bar graph showing the distribution of USCIS wait times.