I-129 Processing Time (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker)

Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker): At a typical office, half of I-129 cases finish within about 9.5 months and 8 in 10 within about 10.1 months. The full range across case types and offices runs from 0.5 months to 2.8 years (USCIS data, July 15, 2026).

Trend: a year ago, a typical office's median for I-129 was 7.5 months; today it is 9 months — about 1.5 months slower than last year.

E - Treaty traders and investors

E3 - Specialty occupation workers from Australia

H-1B - Specialty occupation - Change of status in the U.S.

H-1B - Specialty occupation - Extension of stay in the U.S.

H-1B - Specialty occupation - Visa to be issued abroad

H-2A - Temporary agricultural workers - Named Beneficiary

H-2A - Temporary agricultural workers - Unnamed Beneficiary

H-2B - Temporary nonagricultural workers

H-3 - Temporary trainees

Intracompany transferees and blanket L

O - Extraordinary ability

P - Athletes, artists, and entertainers

Q - Cultural exchange visitors

R - Religious occupation

TN - United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA, formerly NAFTA) professional

Use the Processing Times tool to add your filing date and see a personalized estimate for your pending case, or explore the Department of Labor queues and the Visa Bulletin waiting line on the same page.