N-400 processing times

Application for Naturalization. Newest: Apr–Jun 2026.

Civilian

Military

All categories

If you file today, most likely

8–16 months

could be 6–29 months

How we worked this out

The range starts from USCIS’s median of 9.5 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. We make the range wider when USCIS decides far fewer cases than usual. But in past slowdowns like this, the typical wait fell inside the could-be range only about 2 times in 3.

Time to clear backlog

32 months

up from 20 months

Pending applications

727,371

+12% vs. previous quarter

Decided in Apr–Jun 2026

67,565

−30% vs. previous quarter

Approval rate

81%

−4 pts vs. previous quarter

All categories together have newer numbers, to Aug 2026: see them month by month.

Special cases:

The citizenship timeline puts the whole wait as dates.

If you file today

Category	Most likely (50%)	Could be (80%)	USCIS median
Military	2.2–4.3 months	1.6–8.1 months	2.6 months
Civilian	8–16 months	6–29 months	9.5 months

What happened to the applications

Approved
Denied
Pending at quarter end
Filed

Last 6 years

All years

Source: USCIS’s quarterly All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types reports, via the Immigration and Citizenship Data page. A dashed line ("separate medians"): Until Jul–Sep 2024, USCIS gave the Military and Civilian N-400 the same median, one figure for both; from Oct–Dec 2024 each has its own.

Month by month, all N-400 categories together:

Month	Filed	Decided	Pending
Aug 2026	54,492	19,562	813,453
Jul 2026	55,579	20,674	778,489
Jun 2026	53,392	22,291	744,412
May 2026	49,534	20,795	712,572
Apr 2026	47,630	27,569	683,960
Mar 2026	49,630	32,292	663,951

Pending is counted on the last day of each month. USCIS counts months and quarters separately, so these can differ a little from the chart. Source: USCIS’s Application Processing Data reports.

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

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

Last 6 years

All years

USCIS’s median is how long the cases it decided in the quarter had taken. A dashed line ("separate medians"): Until Jul–Sep 2024, USCIS gave the Military and Civilian N-400 the same median, one figure for both; from Oct–Dec 2024 each has its own.