San Jose field office: last in the naturalization ranking
Silicon Valley’s USCIS field office has the longest published naturalization range of any field office in the latest data.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error
N-400 naturalization
Within normal time
Too early for a case inquiry.
| Published range, San Jose, CA | 16.0 to 31.5 months |
|---|---|
| Time since your receipt date | 12.4 months |
| USCIS takes inquiries for receipts on or before | February 29, 2024 |
| National average to a decision (August 2026) | 12.7 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
On the latest USCIS publication, San Jose ranks 90 of 90 field offices for naturalization, the slowest in the country. USCIS publishes 16 to 31.5 months for Form N-400 there; the gap between the median and the 80% mark is unusually wide, which means some cases are decided far later than others. Family-based Form I-485 is published at 32.5 to 43 months, rank 86. In our first record, from March 14, 2022, San Jose published 14.5 to 19 months for citizenship and 13 to 25 months for family adjustment, so the upper bounds have moved by +12.5 and +18 months. San Francisco publishes 14.5 to 22.5 months for the N-400 and Sacramento 16 to 24 months. USCIS accepts San Jose case inquiries for N-400 receipts dated on or before February 29, 2024, and family I-485 receipts on or before March 19, 2023, according to its publication of September 17, 2026.
The widest naturalization spread
The difference between San Jose’s median and its 80% mark for the N-400 is 15.5 months, the widest among the twenty largest offices. For comparison, Phoenix’s spread is about one month. A wide spread is a warning that the median may say little about an individual file.
Family green cards at San Jose
With an upper bound of 43 months, San Jose is also in the slowest group for family adjustment. Many applicants in the area are employment-based rather than family-based; their I-485 is handled by USCIS service centers, whose times are on the employment I-485 page.
Using the checker
Enter your receipt date above. The result shows the months elapsed and whether the inquiry cut-off for San Jose has been reached.
Silicon Valley and the employment green card
Many San Jose residents hold or seek an employment-based green card. USCIS publishes employment-based I-485 times under its service centers rather than by field office; those ranges are on the employment I-485 page of this site, and they also depend on the Visa Bulletin, where India and China wait far longer than other countries in EB-2 and EB-3. The field office figures here concern naturalization and family cases.
San Jose, CA: latest published times
| Form | Range | Rank of 90 | Inquiries for receipts up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-400 | 16.0 to 31.5 months | 90 | February 29, 2024 |
| I-485 family-based | 32.5 to 43.0 months | 86 | March 19, 2023 |
Four years of published times
| Last publication of the year | N-400 | I-485 family |
|---|---|---|
| December 1, 2022 | 13.0 to 21.0 months | 29.0 to 42.5 months |
| December 27, 2023 | 7.0 to 10.0 months | 14.0 to 23.5 months |
| December 20, 2024 | 6.5 to 8.0 months | 12.5 to 20.5 months |
| December 18, 2025 | 7.0 to 10.0 months | 10.0 to 22.5 months |
| September 17, 2026 | 16.0 to 31.5 months | 32.5 to 43.0 months |