So many people are waiting for their U Visa approval. But why 16 years for U visa processing times? So, let’s take a look at what USCIS is reporting and NOT reporting.
Where can I check my U visa processing times?
Previously, USCIS used to post U visa the processing times for the I-918 applications and most recently that was about 4.5 years. Now, however, there is this message where the processed times used to be listed.
It says ~ ~ ~ USCIS IS TEMPORARILY REMOVING THE PROCESSING TIMES FOR FORM I-918. ~ ~ ~ On June 14, 2021, USCIS updated the USCIS Policy Manual to implement a new process, referred to as the Bona Fide Determination (BFD). Here is a snapshot for you to read in detail. You can access this notice here.
How can we infer what are the processing times?
Now, if we look at the statistics posted by USCIS we can figure out how many cases are currently pending. We can infer what to expect for the U visa processing times. Look at this chart right here.
It says that in the last five years USCIS processed anywhere from 61,000 to 36,000 applications per year. But of those, half are family member petitions. Now, the problem here is that there is a quota of only 10,000 U visa approvals per primary applicant per year.
An interesting chart below shows the historic approvals, the number of new applications and how many are pending. There are two important numbers – the number of approvals and the number of currently pending cases. It looks like USCIS is historically approving about 17,000 cases per year (10,000 for primary applicants and 7,000 for derivatives).
Right now, we can estimate that USCIS has about 160,000-170,000K cases pending!! The simple math is that based on the quota and number of pending cases, it will take about 16 years for adjudication!! 16 years for U visa processing times.
Make sure your have work permit applications pending.
