USCIS took a median of 3.9 months to decide an I-140 in FY2026 Q3 (Apr to Jun 2026).
Pick your petition type. The counts are USCIS's own, published quarterly.
Petitions waiting
8,644
4% of every I-140 USCIS has pending.
Decided last quarter
12,477
Approvals and denials both, since either one clears a petition.
USCIS published time
3 months
80% of the petitions USCIS decided over the past six months finished within this.
USCIS quarterly median, all I-140s
3.9 months
Half of every I-140 decided in FY2026 Q3 (Apr to Jun 2026) took less, over 45,044 decisions. This is one median across every subtype. The figure beside it covers 80% of cases, per subtype. Every form's median.
With premium processing
15 business days
USCIS commits to a decision or refunds the fee. Check today's exact time on USCIS's page.
This queue is growing. 15,476 arrived last quarter against 12,477 decided, so the pile got 2,999 longer.
Every I-140 petition type USCIS reports, and how many are waiting on each.
What this can’t tell you
USCIS counts for FY2026 Q3, from i140_fy2026_q3_v1.xlsx.
It buys a first decision within 15 business days (45 for multinational managers and national interest waivers). The priority date doesn't move, and a request for evidence stops the clock. It tends to pay for itself in three situations:
The H-1B six years are running out
An approved I-140 is what lets H-1B status continue past six years, in steps of up to three years, when no visa number is available (8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(E)). Work out the date
The worker might change jobs
After 180 days of approval, the employer withdrawing the I-140 doesn't undo it (8 CFR 205.1(a)(3)(iii)(C)), and the priority date carries to a new petition (8 CFR 204.5(e)). Premium processing starts that clock sooner. Check a priority date
The priority date is about to be current
If the bulletin reaches the date before a regular I-140 would be decided, premium can be the difference between filing the green card application this month or later. Is it current?
Otherwise, a priority date that's years from current gains little from a faster I-140. The fee is the one in force since March 1, 2026 (91 FR 1059). This is general information. It isn't advice on a particular case.
A petition can only be filed once the labor certification is approved, and that certification has to be filed inside a window fixed by the prevailing wage determination. Miss the window and the recruitment starts again, months before USCIS ever sees the case.
Work out your filing windowUSCIS posted processing times through Oct 19, 2026 · USCIS quarterly form data through Jun 30, 2026 · I-140 counts through 2026Q3. How these figures are counted. Spotted an error? Tell us; every fix is dated in the corrections log.
USCIS posted processing times: USCIS processing-times page, daily copies by the jzebedee/uscis project (GitHub) · data through Oct 19, 2026 · uscis posts about monthly; the project copies it daily; read daily
USCIS quarterly form data: USCIS quarterly all-forms performance data (uscis.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
I-140 counts: USCIS quarterly I-140 spreadsheets (www.uscis.gov) · data through 2026Q3 · quarterly
What each source includes
USCIS posted processing times: Every figure USCIS's processing-times page has posted since March 2022, by form, subtype and office, with USCIS's own posting date: the time it took to decide 80% of the cases it decided in the past six months. An open-source project copies USCIS's page each day, and this site checks it against a weekly reading of the page itself.
USCIS quarterly form data: Every USCIS form's receipts, approvals, denials, pending count and MEDIAN months to a decision, per quarter, as USCIS publishes them. The median isn't the 80th-percentile figure on USCIS's processing-times page.
I-140 counts: USCIS I-140 receipts, approvals and denials by quarter. A denial here isn't a PERM denial. It comes from a different agency at a different stage.