The backlog of U.S. citizenship applications has climbed above 742,000, with several major USCIS field offices carrying tens of thousands of pending naturalization cases.
The latest U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, covering April through June 2026, show that the agency received 145,872 Form N-400 applications during the quarter. It approved 57,697 and denied 12,842, meaning USCIS completed 70,539 cases during the period.
At the end of June, 742,138 naturalization applications, including military cases, remained pending. Regular, non-military naturalization accounted for 727,371 of those cases, with a median processing time of 9.5 months.
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The figures indicate that USCIS received more than twice as many regular N-400 applications as it completed during the quarter. The agency received 140,179 regular applications and completed 67,565.
Five USCIS offices with the largest citizenship backlogs
Houston had the largest pending caseload, with 31,057 applications at the end of June.
It was followed by:
Dallas: 28,662 (pending applications)
Chicago: 23,623
San Jose: 20,899
San Antonio: 18,999
Dallas received the largest number of applications among these offices during the quarter, with 6,167, followed by Houston with 5,545 and Chicago with 5,077. Houston also recorded the highest number of approvals, at 4,441.
The backlog varies considerably across USCIS offices, meaning applicants can experience different timelines depending on the field office handling their case. The national 9.5-month median should therefore not be treated as a guaranteed waiting period for every applicant.
READ: Florida moves to restrict SNAP purchases under new pilot program (January 2, 2026).
Denials also vary by office
Brooklyn recorded the highest number of naturalization denials during the quarter, with 733. Queens and New York each recorded 706, followed by Newark with 578 and Houston with 437.
USCIS data also showed substantial differences in denial rates. Among offices with at least 500 decisions, Queens denied 706 of 1,533 decided cases, or about 46.1%, while Greer, South Carolina, denied 34 of 608 cases, or 5.6%. These figures reflect individual office workloads and outcomes and should not be interpreted as an applicant’s personal probability of approval.
For Indian Americans who are lawful permanent residents and preparing to apply for citizenship, the data underline the importance of checking the current USCIS processing time for the relevant field office rather than relying only on the national median.
The USCIS figures cover the April-June quarter of fiscal year 2026. Processing times and pending inventories can change as the agency receives new applications and completes existing cases.