Use your USCIS receipt number in Case Status Online to see the latest event on an individual petition or application. Use Case Processing Times for a historical estimate based on your form, category and office—not a promised decision date. If you are adjusting status, check visa availability separately with your priority date, employment-based category and the current Visa Bulletin chart selected by USCIS.
Four different questions require four different checks
Employment-based green-card applicants often use the phrase case status to mean several things. USCIS treats these as separate systems and milestones:
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| Question | Correct source | What it can show | What it cannot show |
|---|---|---|---|
| What happened to my individual filing? | USCIS Case Status Online | The latest status event recorded for the receipt number | Your complete file, an officer’s internal notes or a guaranteed decision date |
| How long is USCIS taking? | USCIS Case Processing Times | A historical time range for a selected form, category and office | Your place in line or a personal forecast |
| Can I contact USCIS because the case is late? | USCIS case inquiry | Whether the current inquiry rules may allow a request | A decision, expedited treatment or proof that the case is lost |
| Is an immigrant visa available for my adjustment case? | The current Department of State Visa Bulletin and USCIS chart-selection guidance | Whether your priority date is current under the applicable chart | Approval of the underlying petition or a decision on your I-485 |
Checking one of these does not replace the others. An approved I-140, for example, does not by itself establish that an immigrant visa is available, and a favorable processing-time estimate does not mean USCIS must decide your case by that date.
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- Your USCIS receipt notice, often Form I-797C, for the filing you want to track.
- The 13-character receipt number: three letters followed by 10 numbers. Enter it without dashes.
- The form number and form category shown on the notice.
- The USCIS office or location identified for processing-time selection, if shown.
- For visa-availability checking, your employment-based preference category, priority date and chargeability country.
Employment-based immigration normally involves more than one filing. An employer’s immigrant petition and the worker’s adjustment application are distinct cases with different receipt numbers. Check each filing separately rather than assuming a status message for one applies to the other.
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How do I check my case status?
1. Find the correct receipt number
Use the receipt number printed on the notice for the exact petition or application in question. USCIS describes this number as unique to the case and formatted as three letters plus 10 numbers. A dash may appear on a paper notice, but the online form requires the characters without dashes. Confirm that the notice belongs to the employer petition, adjustment application or other request you intend to monitor.
2. Enter it in Case Status Online
- Open USCIS Case Status Online.
- Enter the 13-character receipt number without dashes.
- Submit the search and read the most recent status message and its date.
- Follow any instruction to wait for a notice, respond to a request for evidence or take another stated action.
USCIS describes the service as a way to track the status of an immigration application, petition or request. The result is a public-facing summary, not the complete case record. It may not explain why a case has paused, what background checks remain or when an officer will act next.
3. Keep USCIS able to reach you
Keep your mailing address current so notices and benefit documents reach you. A receipt number can also be used with the USCIS Office Locator to register for automatic email or text updates. Alerts are useful supplements, but retain the mailed notice because an alert is not a substitute for the official document or any response deadline printed on it.
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Use the exact form, category and office
- Open Case Processing Times.
- Select the form that matches your receipt notice.
- Select the form category, such as the employment-based classification offered by the menu.
- Select the office or location USCIS identifies for that case.
- Read the displayed processing estimate and any inquiry date or instructions shown with it.
Do not select a nearby office simply because it is convenient. The relevant office is the one USCIS associates with the filing. USCIS is changing some labels to Service Center Operations because work can be distributed across multiple locations; the label in the live tool may therefore differ from an older notice or a previous visit.
What the percentage means
USCIS says the displayed processing time represents how long it took to complete 80% of adjudicated cases during the previous six months. Its More Information About Case Processing Times page says the web data are updated monthly. This is a historical population measure: it summarizes completed cases and does not identify the exact place of your case in a queue.
The estimate therefore cannot promise that your case will finish within that period. Cases can differ because of evidence, background checks, interviews, transfers, visa availability and other case-specific events. USCIS does not publish a reliable personal completion date through this tool.
Employment-based Form I-485 cases at the National Benefits Center
For an employment-based I-485 whose receipt identifies the National Benefits Center (NBC), USCIS directs applicants to check the processing time for their local field office. If USCIS transfers the case, use the estimate for the new office. This is a lookup instruction, not evidence that a transfer guarantees a faster or slower decision.
Compare only genuinely similar cases
A colleague’s result is not a dependable benchmark unless the relevant facts match. Compare:
- the same form and form category;
- the USCIS office or current processing location;
- the receipt date used by the processing-time estimate; and
- for visa availability, the same preference category, priority-date position and chargeability country.
Different offices, categories or priority dates can produce different outcomes even when filings were submitted close together.
When can I make a USCIS case inquiry?
Check the live eligibility rules first
Use USCIS Check Case Processing after reviewing the case record and current processing estimate. The page requires the receipt number and other case information. Eligibility is separate from the status message: a case can display a routine status and still be ineligible for an inquiry, or become eligible later as the inquiry date changes.
The cited USCIS guidance says recent notice activity, a response to a request for evidence or an online status update within 60 days can indicate that USCIS is actively processing the case. Such activity can affect whether an inquiry is accepted. The page also says that when a form is not listed, USCIS’s goal is a decision within six months and applicants should wait six months before inquiring. Treat that as an inquiry rule, not a promise that every unlisted case will be decided at six months, and re-check the live page before submitting anything because the rules and form list can change.
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What an inquiry does and does not do
An accepted inquiry asks USCIS to review a case that appears outside the applicable processing standard. It does not force approval, reveal an officer’s reasoning or convert a routine case into an expedited case. Save the confirmation and any response with your receipt notice. If USCIS asks for information, provide exactly what the response requests and observe the stated deadline.
Is my priority date current?
Identify the date and category
Employment-based preference visas are numerically limited. USCIS explains that a priority date is generally the date the employer filed the immigrant petition, or, when a labor certification is required, the date the Department of Labor accepted that certification for processing. Confirm the date on your approval or other official notice and identify the preference category and chargeability country that apply to you.
Use the current Visa Bulletin and USCIS chart guidance
Review the current Department of State Visa Bulletin, then consult USCIS guidance for the month to determine whether adjustment applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart or the Final Action Dates chart. The USCIS adjustment explanation is available in its adjustment-of-status visa bulletin guide. A date that is current under one chart may not be current under the other.
If your priority date is earlier than the cutoff under the chart USCIS designates for that month, the date may be current for that particular step. If it is later, you may need to wait for a subsequent bulletin. Cutoff dates can move forward, remain unchanged or retrogress, so do not rely on an old month’s table.
Do not infer visa availability from another status
An I-140 approval confirms the petition decision, not that a visa number is immediately available. Likewise, an I-485 message such as receipt, biometrics or interview activity does not establish that the final-action requirement is met. Visa availability is a separate checkpoint that must be evaluated with the current category, priority date, chargeability country and USCIS chart instruction.
How the stages fit together
| Stage | Information you need | Action | Reasonable conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receipt and individual record | Receipt number | Search Case Status Online | You can see the latest posted event for that filing |
| Historical queue estimate | Form, category and office | Use Case Processing Times | You can compare the case with USCIS’s recent completed-case data |
| Inquiry eligibility | Receipt number, case details and the live inquiry date | Check the e-Request rules | You may submit a question if the case meets the current criteria |
| Visa availability | Priority date, preference category and chargeability country | Read the current Visa Bulletin and USCIS chart notice | You can determine whether the filing or final decision step is open under the applicable chart |
These stages can overlap. A case may have a receipt and a status update while waiting for a visa number, or it may be visa-available while still within USCIS’s adjudication period. Treat each result as answering only the question assigned to that tool.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Common mistakes and how to correct them
Using the wrong receipt number
Correction: match the number to the notice and filing name before searching. If an employer petition and an I-485 are both pending, search both receipt numbers independently.
Entering punctuation
Correction: enter the three-letter prefix and 10 digits without dashes. Recheck characters that are easy to confuse on a photocopy and compare the entry with the notice.
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Correction: follow the office or location associated with the receipt and USCIS’s current processing-time instructions. For NBC employment-based I-485 cases, start with the local field-office estimate; after a transfer, use the new office.
Treating the 80% figure as a personal deadline
Correction: read it as a six-month historical measure of adjudicated cases. It is not a countdown, a place-in-line number or a guarantee.
Submitting an inquiry immediately after any update
Correction: review the inquiry page’s current rules. USCIS says a notice, request-for-evidence response or online update within 60 days can indicate active processing and affect eligibility.
Using an old Visa Bulletin cutoff
Correction: check the bulletin for the current month and the USCIS chart-selection announcement for adjustment applicants. Never carry a prior month’s date forward without verifying it.
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Keeping a useful case record
Create a simple log for each receipt number. Record the notice date, receipt date, form and category, the office used for the processing-time lookup, every status-message date, correspondence sent, inquiry confirmation and priority-date bulletin checked. Keep copies of notices and delivery confirmations in the same folder.
Review the individual status when you receive an alert or notice, revisit processing times monthly because USCIS updates the web data, and check the Visa Bulletin monthly when visa availability matters. A dated log prevents you from confusing an employer petition with an adjustment case or comparing information from different months.
When individualized legal help is appropriate
Official tools can show a status and explain general timing, but they cannot interpret every notice or determine whether a particular response, portability issue, priority-date strategy or eligibility problem applies to you. Consider consulting an immigration attorney when a notice contains a deadline you do not understand, USCIS denies or revokes a filing, your facts have changed materially, or you need advice about maintaining status and eligibility. An attorney cannot promise a USCIS decision date; the value is case-specific interpretation and response planning.
Official wording and source pages
“Use this tool to track the status of an immigration application, petition, or request.” — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Case Status Online
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“We display case processing times for select forms and locations to let you know how long it generally takes to process benefit requests and when you can contact us with questions about your case.” — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, More Information About Case Processing Times
USCIS’s historic-processing-times material notes that Fiscal Year 2026 data cover October 1, 2025 through August 30, 2026 and that displayed estimates can differ from earlier reports because of system updates and post-adjudicative outcomes. Historical tables should not be copied as a current estimate for an individual case; use the live processing-time checker instead.
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