How long is USCIS taking for a marriage green card?

How long is USCIS taking for a marriage green card right now?

As of the May 2026 USCIS update, most USCIS field offices complete 80% of marriage-based green card (Form I-485) cases within roughly 10 to 17 months, ranging from about 5 months at the fastest offices to about 23 at the slowest. The spouse petition (Form I-130) for an immediate relative is grouped separately by processing track. Pick your field office on this page to see its current published figure and how it has moved over the past two years.

What does the "80%" processing time actually mean?

USCIS publishes the time within which it finishes 80% of cases of that type at that office. It is an estimate of recent history, not a deadline and not a promise about your case. By definition about 1 in 5 cases takes longer than the posted figure, so being somewhat past it is common and is not, on its own, a sign that anything is wrong.

Why do wait times differ so much between field offices?

Each USCIS field office has its own caseload, staffing, and interview schedule, and a marriage-based I-485 is decided by the office that covers where you live. That is why the same form can take 7 months at one office and 17 at another. When you move, your case can transfer to a different office with a different pace.

My case is past the posted time. Is something wrong?

Usually not. Because the figure is an 80% estimate, a meaningful share of cases run past it for ordinary reasons like interview scheduling and background checks. USCIS sets a separate "submit a case inquiry" date for each form and office; once your case is older than that date, you can ask USCIS to look into it through its online tool.

Is the I-130 time tied to my local field office?

No. Form I-130 is processed at a USCIS service center or the National Benefits Center, not at your local field office, so its published times are grouped by processing track rather than by city. When a couple files the I-130 and I-485 together (concurrent filing), the petition is usually decided alongside the green card application at the field office.

How often is this page updated?

USCIS refreshes its processing-times data about once a month. This page mirrors that official data and shows an "as of" date so you always know how current it is, along with a rolling two-year trend so you can see whether your office is speeding up or slowing down.

Where does this data come from?

Directly from USCIS's official processing-times tool. We show the lower bound of the published range, which is the "80% of cases completed within" figure USCIS displays as its headline number. We do not estimate, adjust, or predict. Every number on this page is USCIS's own.