I-140 queue calculator

How many petitions are waiting in your category, and how that compares to the processing time USCIS publishes.

How deep is the I-140 queue?

Pick your petition type. The counts are USCIS's own, published quarterly.

Petition type

Petitions waiting

5,280

3% of every I-140 USCIS has pending.

Decided last quarter

11,651

Approvals and denials both, since either one clears a petition.

USCIS published time

2.5 to 7.5 months

Measured over petitions already decided.

With premium processing

15 business days

USCIS commits to a decision or refunds the fee. Check today's exact time on USCIS's page.

Where the backlog sits

Every I-140 petition type USCIS reports, and how many are waiting on each.

NIW National interest waiver 89,215
E31 Skilled worker 35,847
E11 Extraordinary ability 27,024
E13 Multinational executive or manager 12,801
EW3 Unskilled worker 8,280
E21 Advanced degree or exceptional ability 5,280
E32 Professional with a bachelor's degree 3,861
E12 Outstanding professor or researcher 1,901

What this can’t tell you

USCIS does not publish pending petitions by month of receipt, so how many sit ahead of any particular case is not something this can tell you.

USCIS counts for FY2026 Q2, from i140_fy2026_q2_v1.xlsx.

Common questions

Why does the queue imply a longer wait than the processing time USCIS publishes?

They measure different things. The published time looks backwards at petitions USCIS has already decided. The queue looks at the pile that’s still there. When more petitions arrive than leave, as is happening with national interest waivers, the pile grows and a case filed today sits behind more work than the cases that have just finished did.

How many I-140 petitions are pending?

USCIS publishes the count every quarter by preference category. National interest waivers are consistently the largest single group, at roughly half of all pending I-140 petitions on recent figures.

Can you tell me how many petitions are ahead of mine?

No. USCIS publishes pending petitions by category but never by month of receipt, so there’s no way to work out where any particular case sits in the order. The prevailing wage queue is different because DOL does publish that breakdown.

Does premium processing skip the queue?

Yes, that’s what it buys. USCIS commits to a first review within 15 business days for most I-140 categories, or 45 for EB-1C multinational executives and EB-2 national interest waivers. It guarantees a review, not an approval, and the clock restarts if USCIS issues a request for evidence.

The I-140 comes after the part you control

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 window

I-140 times: USCIS processing-times page (egov.uscis.gov), dated mirror · data through Aug 17, 2026 · checked on update; uscis revises monthly