The US immigration system has a lot of people waiting.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ended the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 with about 11.3 million applications and petitions pending, according to an analysis of USCIS data by the American Immigration Council. During the quarter, USCIS received roughly 2.1 million new cases but completed fewer than 1.8 million.
In other words, more cases came in than the agency could finish.
For someone waiting for a work permit, family petition, green card, or another immigration benefit, that raises a pretty obvious question: how much of this backlog will actually affect your case?
The answer depends on what you've applied for.
Oluwaseun Bamisile
It's Not One Giant Queue
The 11.3 million figure covers more than 190 types of applications and petitions, including employment authorisation, family-based immigration, adjustment of status, and naturalisation.
Those cases don't all move through USCIS in the same way.
A person waiting for an Employment Authorization Document, for example, is dealing with a different process from someone waiting for a family petition. The same is true for someone applying to adjust their status or become a US citizen.
That's why USCIS publishes processing times by form and category. The agency's online tool is a much better starting point for applicants trying to work out how long their own case might take.
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