I-526E processing times

Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor. Newest: Apr–Jun 2026.

If you file today, most likely

12–23 months

could be 8–42 months

How we worked this out

The range starts from USCIS’s median of 13.6 months for Apr–Jun 2026 and widens it by how far real waits landed from the median in past quarters. In past quarters, the typical wait fell in the most likely range about half the time, and in the could-be range 8 times in 10.

Time to clear backlog

37 months

up from 32 months

Pending applications

11,192

+7% vs. previous quarter

Decided in Apr–Jun 2026

904

−8% vs. previous quarter

Approval rate

76%

−4 pts vs. previous quarter

If you file today

Category	Most likely (50%)	Could be (80%)	USCIS median
I-526E	12–23 months	8–42 months	13.6 months

What happened to the applications

Approved
Denied
Pending at quarter end
Filed

Source: USCIS’s quarterly All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types reports, via the Immigration and Citizenship Data page. A diamond marks a pending count that doesn't match the quarter before's count plus the quarter's filings minus its decisions: it is what USCIS reported, but USCIS doesn't say why they differ, so the pages draw no conclusions from it.

USCIS median and backlog over time

Time to clear backlog is how long USCIS would need to decide every pending case if it kept deciding them at the same speed. It is not your wait: the pile includes cases on hold and cases USCIS cannot decide yet.

How to read the chart

The chart shows no time to clear the backlog for quarters in which USCIS decided fewer than 100, too few to divide by. For Apr–Jun 2024, USCIS published the quarter before's medians again, so the chart has none for Apr–Jun 2024.

Time to clear backlog
USCIS median processing time

USCIS’s median is how long the cases it decided in the quarter had taken. A diamond marks a pending count that doesn't match the quarter before's count plus the quarter's filings minus its decisions: it is what USCIS reported, but USCIS doesn't say why they differ, so the pages draw no conclusions from it.