Family-based I-485 processing time at every USCIS field office
Pick the field office on your interview or receipt notice and enter the receipt date to see where your adjustment of status case stands.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error
I-485 family-based
Within normal time
Too early for a case inquiry.
| Published range, Houston, TX | 18.0 to 36.0 months |
|---|---|
| Time since your receipt date | 12.4 months |
| USCIS takes inquiries for receipts on or before | October 26, 2023 |
| National average to a decision (August 2026) | 12.4 months |
How this was calculated
- USCIS published these ranges on September 17, 2026. The upper figure is the time within which USCIS completed 80% of cases; the lower one is the median.
- The national average is a different measure: all cases completed in the month, from receipt to decision, as reported to Congress.
Processing-time data: ImmigrationTimes.org (CC BY 4.0), from USCIS; selected and reformatted. Check your own case on egov.uscis.gov.
Estimate from public data, not legal advice. Your case may differ (cross-chargeability, CSPA, waivers). For advice, see a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative. Not affiliated with USCIS or the Department of State. Method and past error
A family-based green card application filed inside the United States, Form I-485, is decided at one of 90 USCIS field offices, and the office makes a large difference. In the USCIS publication of September 17, 2026, the upper bound of the range, the point by which 80% of that office’s cases were finished, runs from 12.5 months in Burlington, VT to 60.5 months in Spokane, WA. The middle office sits at 32.8 months, up from 20.5 at the end of 2025. The report to Congress for August 2026 gives a national average of 12.4 months, a much shorter figure, because it averages every family adjustment decided in the month instead of measuring how long the slower part of one office’s queue takes. USCIS had 601,751 family-based applications pending. In 89 of the 90 offices, the family I-485 takes longer than naturalization at the same address.
The ends of the list
The table below the checker covers the 20 largest offices. The extremes sit elsewhere, in smaller cities and in one state that dominates the slow end.
| Field office | Published range | Rank of 90 | Inquiries for receipts up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington, VT | 8.5 to 12.5 months | 1 | September 28, 2025 |
| Tucson, AZ | 8.5 to 13.5 months | 2 | September 1, 2025 |
| Helena, MT | 9.5 to 14.5 months | 3 | July 28, 2025 |
| Buffalo, NY | 10 to 17.5 months | 4 | May 5, 2025 |
| Greer, SC | 15 to 20.5 months | 5 | February 2, 2025 |
| Spokane, WA | 22 to 60.5 months | 90 | October 6, 2021 |
| Yakima, WA | 21 to 57.5 months | 89 | January 12, 2022 |
| Seattle, WA | 36 to 56.5 months | 88 | February 1, 2022 |
| Santa Ana, CA | 27.5 to 43.5 months | 87 | March 1, 2023 |
| San Jose, CA | 32.5 to 43 months | 86 | March 19, 2023 |
Washington State holds 3 of the slowest five: Spokane, Yakima, Seattle. A gap of 48 months separates the top of the list from the bottom.
This year against last year
At the end of 2025, the median office published 20.5 months as its upper bound. In the latest edition it is 32.8. Naturalization at the same offices went from 11 to 15.5 months over the same period. The national average of 12.4 months for August 2026 moves differently, because a monthly average of completed cases includes many files that moved quickly and reacts slowly to a growing tail of old ones.
Two clocks for preference cases
For a spouse or child of a green card holder, or a sibling of a citizen, the office range is only one clock. The other is the Visa Bulletin: USCIS can accept the I-485 under the chart it designates each month, on its filing charts page, but approval waits for the Final Action Date. An interview can be ready before the visa number is. Immediate relatives of citizens have only the office clock.
I-485 family at the 20 largest field offices
| Field office | Published range | Rank of 90 (1 = fastest) | Inquiries accepted for receipts up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington, DC | 18.0 to 24.0 months | 17 | October 19, 2024 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 14.0 to 24.5 months | 19 | October 4, 2024 |
| San Antonio, TX | 13.0 to 24.5 months | 20 | October 8, 2024 |
| Tampa, FL | 17.0 to 26.5 months | 24 | August 4, 2024 |
| Boston, MA | 13.5 to 28.5 months | 29 | June 12, 2024 |
| Dallas, TX | 13.5 to 29.0 months | 31 | May 22, 2024 |
| Atlanta, GA | 16.5 to 31.0 months | 38 | March 21, 2024 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 15.0 to 31.0 months | 40 | March 21, 2024 |
| San Diego, CA | 13.0 to 31.5 months | 42 | March 12, 2024 |
| Orlando, FL | 18.5 to 33.0 months | 49 | January 25, 2024 |
| New York City, NY | 14.5 to 33.5 months | 52 | January 10, 2024 |
| Houston, TX | 18.0 to 36.0 months | 58 | October 26, 2023 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 15.0 to 37.0 months | 63 | September 27, 2023 |
| Newark, NJ | 22.0 to 38.0 months | 70 | August 28, 2023 |
| Denver, CO | 22.5 to 39.5 months | 76 | July 5, 2023 |
| Miami, FL | 21.5 to 40.0 months | 79 | June 14, 2023 |
| Chicago, IL | 18.5 to 40.5 months | 81 | June 10, 2023 |
| San Francisco, CA | 18.5 to 41.5 months | 85 | May 1, 2023 |
| San Jose, CA | 32.5 to 43.0 months | 86 | March 19, 2023 |
| Seattle, WA | 36.0 to 56.5 months | 88 | February 1, 2022 |