Which Year Is USCIS Processing U Visas Right Now?

As of the start of fiscal year 2026, USCIS is issuing final U-1 visa approvals for petitions filed on or before April 30, 2017, working the oldest cases first. So if you’re wondering what year USCIS is processing U visas right now, the answer for final adjudication is spring 2017. Petitions filed after that date remain in the queue, though many are moving through an earlier review stage that grants interim benefits well before a final visa number is available.¹

Where the Final Visa Line Stands Today

USCIS announced on September 9, 2025, that it had used all 10,000 U-1 visa slots for fiscal year 2025. When fiscal year 2026 began on October 1, 2025, the agency resumed final approvals starting with eligible principal petitions filed on or before April 30, 2017.¹

The cutoff moves forward slowly. USCIS has hit the 10,000 annual cap every year since fiscal year 2010, and because new filings arrive faster than approvals go out, the gap between filing date and approval date keeps widening.¹ If you filed in mid-2017 or later, your case has not yet reached the front of the line for a final visa, and applicants who filed after April 2017 should expect several more years before their priority date becomes current.

Bona Fide Determinations Are Further Along

USCIS created the bona fide determination process in June 2021 for exactly this problem: applicants stuck behind the cap needed some form of protection while they waited. The review runs ahead of final adjudication, so a petition filed after April 2017 may already be eligible for a bona fide review even though its final visa is years away.²

During a bona fide review, an officer confirms that the petition was properly filed with a completed law enforcement certification and a personal statement, and clears background and security checks.² If the petition passes, the applicant receives deferred action and an employment authorization document, and the petition then waits for a final visa number under the annual cap.³

USCIS reviews bona fide determinations in receipt date order, starting with the oldest pending petitions that had not already gone through a waitlist adjudication as of June 14, 2021.¹ The agency does not publish a specific filing-date cutoff for bona fide reviews the way it does for final visa issuance, so there is no public marker to check. Because final approvals are reaching April 2017 filings, bona fide reviews are further along than that, though how far depends on the volume of cases at each filing date and on individual case complexity.

A bona fide determination is not the same as an approved visa. It does not confer U nonimmigrant status, does not start the clock for green card eligibility, and does not create a right to travel abroad and return.

Why the Line Moves So Slowly

Federal law caps U-1 visas at 10,000 principal applicants per fiscal year. The cap applies only to the principal petitioner, not to derivative family members, but the principal must be approved before derivatives can follow.⁴

The backlog now sits above 400,000 pending petitions, with thousands more arriving every year. Even if every case were straightforward, clearing the current backlog alone would take decades at 10,000 approvals per year. Congress set the cap when it created the program, and only Congress can raise it. Until it does, filing-date and processing-date will keep drifting apart.

What Happens After Your Date Is Current

Once USCIS reaches your filing date and approves your U-1 visa, you receive nonimmigrant status for up to four years. That approval also starts the clock on eligibility for lawful permanent residence. You can apply for a green card after three continuous years of physical presence in the United States in U status, provided you can show that your continued presence is justified on humanitarian grounds, to ensure family unity, or is otherwise in the public interest.⁵

Continuous presence has strict rules. A single trip abroad longer than 90 days breaks continuity, and so does an aggregate of 180 days or more outside the country during the three-year period. The only exception is travel to help with the investigation or prosecution of the qualifying crime, which requires certification from an official involved in the case.⁵

The three-year clock does not run while you hold only a bona fide determination or sit on the waitlist. It begins when you are admitted in U-1 status.

How to Check Where Your Own Case Sits

Your Form I-797, Notice of Action, carries the 13-character receipt number USCIS assigned when it accepted your petition. That number typically starts with a three-letter prefix such as EAC, LIN, or WAC. Enter it in the “Check Case Status” tool on the USCIS website to see the current stage: received, evidence requested, or decided.

The “Check Case Processing Times” page shows average timeframes for Form I-918 at the service center handling your case. These are averages across a large pool of cases; they do not predict your individual outcome, and they do not override the cap-driven wait for a final visa number.

Official decisions, biometrics notices, and requests for evidence come by physical mail, not through the online portal. Federal law requires you to notify USCIS of any address change within 10 days.⁶ Missing a biometrics appointment or evidence deadline because mail went to an old address can stall or end a case that has been waiting years.

Do Not Leave the Country While You Wait

There is no advance parole for U visa applicants. A pending Form I-918 gives you no right to reenter the United States if you leave, and there is no equivalent travel document for people waiting on a bona fide determination or final adjudication.

If you travel abroad before a decision is reached, you may be unable to return unless you hold a separate valid visa. You would also have to ask USCIS to transfer your file to a U.S. embassy or consulate for consular processing, which adds months. Leaving the area where the crime occurred can undermine the case itself, because USCIS may question whether you can still meaningfully assist law enforcement from abroad. Mail from USCIS that arrives while you are overseas, including biometrics appointments and evidence requests, can cause a case to be treated as abandoned if deadlines pass.

For anyone tracking the line: the April 30, 2017 cutoff is where final approvals stand right now, bona fide reviews are running somewhere ahead of that date without a published marker, and the gap between filing and approval will keep growing until Congress changes the cap.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-918, Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. National Engagement – U Visa and Bona Fide Determination Process – Frequently Asked Questions
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 3 Part C Chapter 5 – Bona Fide Determination Process
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1255 – Adjustment of Status of Nonimmigrant to That of Person Admitted for Permanent Residence
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address