USCIS Texas Service Center: Processing Times, Premium Fees, and RFEs

Processing times at the USCIS Texas Service Center vary by form and classification, and the way to find yours is to compare your receipt date against the current time USCIS publishes for your form at that center. If your case is past that mark, you have options: premium processing for eligible forms, a free expedite request in narrow circumstances, a formal service inquiry once you’re outside normal processing, and escalation to the CIS Ombudsman as a last resort.

How USCIS Calculates the Posted Processing Time

The number USCIS shows for each form at the Texas Service Center (TSC) is not a promise or an average. It’s the time it took to complete 80 percent of adjudicated cases of that form type over the previous six months.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. More Information About Case Processing Times USCIS used to display this as a range and switched to a single figure to reduce confusion.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Frequently Asked Questions About Processing Times

So if the tool reports eight months for Form I-140 at the TSC, 80 percent of I-140 cases decided there in the last six months finished within eight months of filing. A fifth of cases took longer. Yours could fall on either side.

Checking Your Own Case

Pull out your Form I-797C, Notice of Action. You need two pieces of information from it: your receipt date, and your receipt number. TSC receipt numbers start with “SRC” followed by ten digits.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipt Number

Go to the USCIS Case Processing Times tool. Select your form type, then select Texas Service Center. The page shows the current processing time and a “Case Inquiry Date.” If your receipt date is earlier than that inquiry date, USCIS considers your case outside normal processing time, and you’re eligible to file a formal inquiry.

For a status snapshot on any given day, the Case Status Online tool takes your SRC receipt number and returns the latest event on the case: received, biometrics scheduled, request for evidence sent, approved, and so on.

Premium Processing: The Paid Shortcut

For eligible forms, Form I-907 buys you a guaranteed response window. The premium processing clock starts when USCIS receives a properly filed I-907 at the correct address, and USCIS will either act within the window or refund the fee.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How Do I Request Premium Processing?

“Action” is not the same as approval. USCIS can approve, deny, issue a Request for Evidence, or issue a notice of intent to deny within the window and still meet the guarantee. If USCIS issues an RFE or intent to deny, the clock stops and restarts when you respond.

Guaranteed Response Times

  • Form I-129 for all eligible classifications (H-1B, H-2B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, O-1, O-2, P-1 through P-3, Q-1, R-1, E-1, E-2, E-3, TN): 15 business days.
  • Form I-140 for EB-1 extraordinary ability, EB-1 outstanding researchers, EB-2 (non-NIW), and EB-3 skilled workers and professionals: 15 business days.
  • Form I-140 for EB-1 multinational executives and managers, and EB-2 national interest waivers: 45 business days.
  • Form I-765 for F-1 pre-completion OPT, post-completion OPT, and 24-month STEM OPT extensions: 30 business days.
  • Form I-539 for changes to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 status: 30 business days.

Premium Processing Fees as of March 1, 2026

USCIS adjusted the fees for inflation effective March 1, 2026.5Federal Register. Adjustment to Premium Processing Fees The amount depends on the form:

  • $1,780 for Form I-129 H-2B or R-1 petitions, and for Form I-765.
  • $2,075 for Form I-539 changes to F, J, or M status.
  • $2,965 for Form I-129 in all other eligible classifications and for all Form I-140 categories.

The premium processing fee is separate from the underlying filing fee and cannot be waived.5Federal Register. Adjustment to Premium Processing Fees

Expedite Requests Without Paying

If your form isn’t eligible for premium processing, or you can’t afford the fee, USCIS decides expedite requests case by case at no additional cost. The bar is high, and a general statement about hardship won’t clear it. USCIS grants expedite requests only under specific criteria:6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 5 – Expedite Requests

  • Severe financial loss to a company or person, where the urgency was not caused by the applicant’s own delay in filing or responding to evidence requests.
  • Emergencies and urgent humanitarian situations, including medical emergencies and threats to safety.
  • Requests from a nonprofit organization designated by the IRS as furthering the cultural or social interests of the United States.
  • U.S. government interests, including cases identified as urgent by a federal agency for public safety or national security reasons.
  • Clear USCIS error causing the delay.

Whatever criterion you claim, be ready to document it. You can submit an expedite request through the USCIS Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283 or through the online case tools. USCIS can take weeks to decide the expedite request itself, and there is no appeal if it says no.

When Your Case Is Past the Posted Time

Once your receipt date is earlier than the Case Inquiry Date shown for your form, you can submit a service request. There are two ways in. The first is the USCIS e-Request tool online, where you enter your form type, receipt number, and filing date.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. e-Request – Check Case Processing The second is calling the Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283 and asking an agent to create a service request. Have your SRC number, form type, and filing date ready either way.

USCIS routes the request to the TSC for internal review. The stated goal is to resolve service requests within 15 business days.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Service Request Management Tool Responses sometimes take longer, and the response you get may be a note that the case is still under review rather than a decision.

Escalating to the CIS Ombudsman

If a service inquiry doesn’t move things, the Office of the CIS Ombudsman is the next step. Before they’ll take your case, you have to show that you contacted USCIS through one of its customer service tools within the last 90 days and gave USCIS at least 60 days to respond.9Department of Homeland Security. Types of Cases the CIS Ombudsman Can and Cannot Help With The Ombudsman cannot override a USCIS decision, but they can press for resolution and track systemic problems.

Requests for Evidence: The Most Common Reason a Case Stalls

A case that looks “stuck” often isn’t. It’s waiting on you. If USCIS issued a Request for Evidence, the clock on your case pauses until you respond, and how you handle the RFE decides whether the case survives at all.

The standard response window is 84 calendar days (12 weeks) from the date on the RFE. That deadline is firm. USCIS officers cannot extend it.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 6 – Evidence If USCIS mailed the RFE by regular mail, you get an extra three days for mailing, so 87 days in practice. If you’re outside the United States or the RFE was mailed from an international USCIS office, add another 14 days.

Miss the deadline and USCIS can deny the case as abandoned, deny it on the existing record, or both.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 6 – Evidence An abandonment denial narrows your options for appeal or refiling. Respond to every RFE, even partially if that’s all you can put together in time, and send it well before the deadline to absorb mailing delays.

Keep Your Address Current or Lose the Case

If you move while a case is pending at the TSC, report the new address to USCIS within 10 days by filing Form AR-11.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address You can do it online through a USCIS account, which meets the legal requirement, or by mailing a paper AR-11.12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card A and G visa holders and visa waiver visitors are exempt; nearly everyone else on a visa or with a pending application is legally required to report.

Failing to report is a federal misdemeanor with a potential fine of up to $200 or up to 30 days in jail. USCIS rarely pursues that penalty on its own. The practical danger is bigger: if the TSC mails an RFE or a decision notice to your old address and you miss the deadline, the case can be denied as abandoned and you may have no second chance.

A Note on the TSC Itself

You don’t get to pick the Texas Service Center. USCIS assigns cases there based on form type, classification, and sometimes geography, and the Direct Filing Addresses page for each form tells you where to send it. Filing at the wrong location gets your petition rejected, not forwarded.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Texas Service Center Moving to New Address on June 26 The TSC does not take walk-ins, hold interviews, or accept in-person filings. Everything moves by mail, through a USCIS lockbox, or online.