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USCIS Houston: naturalization and green card interview times

Houston handles naturalization and family green card interviews for much of southeast Texas; here is what USCIS publishes for it and how that compares with Dallas and San Antonio.

Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error

N-400 naturalization

Within normal time

Too early for a case inquiry.

Published range, Houston, TX12.0 to 14.0 months
Time since your receipt date12.4 months
USCIS takes inquiries for receipts on or beforeAugust 25, 2025
National average to a decision (August 2026)12.7 months
How this was calculated
  1. 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.
  2. 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

Houston is one of the busiest USCIS field offices in the country, and its two main queues tell different stories. Naturalization moves comparatively well: USCIS publishes a range of 12 to 14 months for Form N-400 at Houston, which ranks it 21 out of 90 offices, from fastest to slowest. Family-based adjustment of status is slower: the published range for Form I-485 is 18 to 36 months, rank 58. The upper figure is the time within which USCIS says it completes 80% of cases, so a file older than that is outside normal processing time and USCIS will accept a case inquiry. For Houston, inquiries are accepted for N-400 receipts dated on or before August 25, 2025 and for family I-485 receipts on or before October 26, 2023. These figures come from the USCIS publication of September 17, 2026 and are refreshed when USCIS updates them, usually once a month.

Houston against the rest of Texas

Texas has several field offices, and USCIS sends each applicant to the one that covers their county. On the latest publication, Houston’s naturalization range is 12 to 14 months; Dallas shows 13 to 16.5 months and San Antonio 11.5 to 13.5 months. For the family green card, the order changes: Houston at 18 to 36 months, Dallas at 13.5 to 29 months, San Antonio at 13 to 24.5 months. In other words, Houston is among the quicker offices for citizenship and in the slower half for family adjustment.

What changed since 2022

The series we keep starts on March 14, 2022. At that point USCIS published 13 to 18 months for the N-400 in Houston and 16 to 25.5 months for the family I-485. The upper bound for naturalization has moved by -4 months since then, and the one for family adjustment by +10.5 months. A positive figure means the office has become slower at the 80% mark.

Using these numbers on your own case

Take the receipt date printed on your Form I-797C, not the date you mailed the package. Put it in the checker above with Houston selected: it shows how many months have passed and whether USCIS would already accept an inquiry. If your green card case is family-based and your priority date is not yet current, the interview cannot lead to approval anyway, which is why the Visa Bulletin status matters as much as the office.

Houston, TX: latest published times

USCIS publication of September 17, 2026. Processing-time data: ImmigrationTimes.org (CC BY 4.0), from USCIS; selected and reformatted.
FormRangeRank of 90Inquiries for receipts up to
N-40012.0 to 14.0 months21August 25, 2025
I-485 family-based18.0 to 36.0 months58October 26, 2023

Four years of published times

Series published by USCIS since March 2022, as kept by ImmigrationTimes.org (CC BY 4.0).
Last publication of the yearN-400I-485 family
December 1, 202217.0 to 25.5 months22.5 to 33.0 months
December 27, 20237.0 to 10.0 months16.5 to 24.0 months
December 20, 20247.0 to 9.0 months22.0 to 34.0 months
December 18, 20258.5 to 11.5 months10.0 to 22.5 months
September 17, 202612.0 to 14.0 months18.0 to 36.0 months

Questions people ask

How long does the N-400 take at the Houston field office?

USCIS currently publishes 12 to 14 months for naturalization at Houston, measured from the receipt date on your I-797C notice to a decision. The lower figure is the median; the upper one is the time within which 80% of cases finish. If your case is older than the upper figure, you can submit a case inquiry to USCIS.

Is Houston faster than Dallas for a family green card interview?

For family-based Form I-485, Houston publishes 18 to 36 months and Dallas 13.5 to 29 months. You do not choose your office: USCIS assigns it from your home address, so moving within Texas only changes the office if your new county belongs to another field office’s area. The comparison is useful mainly to understand whether a delay is local.

Why do Houston’s N-400 and I-485 times differ so much?

Both are decided at the same building, but they are different queues with different volumes and different steps. A family green card case often waits on a visa number, background checks and an interview with both spouses, while most naturalization cases need one interview and the civics test. The published ranges reflect those differences rather than one overall speed.

Keep going

N-400 processing time

Naturalization times at all 90 field offices, the national average and how the wait moved since 2022.

I-485 family-based

Family green card interview times at all 90 field offices, from the fastest to the slowest, with the trend.

N-400 early filing calculator

The first day USCIS accepts your N-400, with the days present and any long trip that puts residence at risk.

Official sources and data

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Publisher of Visa Bulletin data, green card wait forecasts, USCIS processing times and 2026 filing fees

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Data for 2026, checked on