Immigration Waiver Statistics 2026: I-601A, I-601 and I-212 Approval Rates and Wait Times
What the quarterly USCIS reports show about waivers of inadmissibility: how many are filed, how many are approved, how long they take, and how the answer differs by form.
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- Updated
- Compiled by
- Ace Immigration, the law firm of attorney Anna Tsibel
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- CC BY 4.0 — free to republish with credit
Data: USCIS all-forms and waiver quarterly reports, FY2025 Q4 to FY2026 Q3 (through June 30, 2026). Files retrieved October 31, 2026.
Key figures
86.1%
of I-601A provisional waiver decisions in April to June 2026 were approvals (3,556 approved, 576 denied); 89.2% over the last four quarters
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services25.4 months
median I-601A processing time for cases completed in April to June 2026, with 77,755 applications pending
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services50.1%
of I-601 decisions in April to June 2026 were approvals (1,497 approved, 1,489 denied), down from 69.2% in July to September 2025
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services174,120
I-601, I-601A and I-212 applications pending on June 30, 2026
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
I-601A: 86% approved, 25 months to get there
USCIS approved 3,556 provisional unlawful presence waivers and denied 576 in April to June 2026, an approval share of 86.1%. Over the four quarters from July 2025 it approved 35,471 and denied 4,287 (89.2%). Decisions slowed sharply: 16,320 in July to September 2025, 4,132 in the latest quarter, while receipts stayed near 9,557 a quarter (USCIS).
Source: USCIS: All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types, FY2026 Q3Approval share = approved ÷ (approved + denied). Median months is USCIS's processing time for cases completed in the quarter.
Show the data
| Quarter | Received | Approved | Denied | Approval share | Pending | Median months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2025 - September 30, 2025 | 10,360 | 14,645 | 1,675 | 89.7% | 73,373 | 25.2 |
| October 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025 | 9,328 | 9,099 | 1,115 | 89.1% | 72,504 | 24.1 |
| January 1, 2026 - March 31, 2026 | 8,545 | 8,171 | 921 | 89.9% | 71,985 | 24 |
| April 1, 2026 - June 30, 2026 | 9,993 | 3,556 | 576 | 86.1% | 77,755 | 25.4 |
The median processing time for completed I-601A cases was 25.4 months in the latest quarter and has stayed between 24.0 months and 25.4 months all year. Pending applications rose to 77,755.
Show the data
| Quarter | Pending | Median processing months |
|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2025 - September 30, 2025 | 73,373 | 25.2 |
| October 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025 | 72,504 | 24.1 |
| January 1, 2026 - March 31, 2026 | 71,985 | 24 |
| April 1, 2026 - June 30, 2026 | 77,755 | 25.4 |
I-601: from 69% approved to a coin flip in three quarters
In July to September 2025 USCIS approved 2,871 Form I-601 waivers and denied 1,278 (69.2% approvals). In January to March 2026 it approved 1,744 and denied 1,675 (51.0%), and in April to June 2026 1,497 against 1,489 (50.1%). Receipts ran at 10,252 and 5,689 in the two 2026 quarters, and pending applications grew from 57,949 to 70,362 (USCIS).
Source: USCIS: Number of Waivers by Form Number and Case Status, FY2026 Q3USCIS has not published a waivers table for October to December 2025. No median processing time is published for Form I-601 in this report.
Show the data
| Quarter | Received | Approved | Denied | Approval share | Pending |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2025 - September 30, 2025 | 5,796 | 2,871 | 1,278 | 69.2% | 57,949 |
| January 1, 2026 - March 31, 2026 | 10,252 | 1,744 | 1,675 | 51.0% | 67,913 |
| April 1, 2026 - June 30, 2026 | 5,689 | 1,497 | 1,489 | 50.1% | 70,362 |
I-212 after a removal order: about six in ten approved
Form I-212, permission to reapply for admission after removal, was approved 617 times and denied 387 times in July to September 2025 (61.5%), and 515 against 404 in April to June 2026 (56.0%), with 26,003 pending (USCIS).
Show the data
| Quarter | Received | Approved | Denied | Approval share | Pending |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2025 - September 30, 2025 | 1,836 | 617 | 387 | 61.5% | 22,116 |
| January 1, 2026 - March 31, 2026 | 2,982 | 519 | 323 | 61.6% | 25,274 |
| April 1, 2026 - June 30, 2026 | 1,751 | 515 | 404 | 56.0% | 26,003 |
Across every waiver form, USCIS held 653,663 pending applications on June 30, 2026, 475,726 of them Form I-192 requests by nonimmigrants, mostly travelers with past violations seeking advance permission to enter.
Source: USCIS: Number of Waivers by Form Number and Case Status, FY2026 Q3April 1 to June 30, 2026. The I-601A row comes from the USCIS all-forms report; the others from the waivers table.
Show the data
| Form | Received | Approved | Denied | Approval share | Pending |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I-601A provisional unlawful presence waiver | 9,993 | 3,556 | 576 | 86.1% | 77,755 |
| I-601 waiver of inadmissibility | 5,689 | 1,497 | 1,489 | 50.1% | 70,362 |
| I-212 permission to reapply after removal | 1,751 | 515 | 404 | 56.0% | 26,003 |
| I-192 advance permission to enter as a nonimmigrant | 34,995 | 3,938 | 1,911 | 67.3% | 475,726 |
| I-612 waiver of the two-year foreign residence requirement | 2,785 | 1,582 | 366 | 81.2% | 3,116 |
| I-602 refugee waiver of inadmissibility | 398 | 366 | 0 | 100.0% | 252 |
| I-193 waiver of passport or visa | 0 | 8 | 0 | 100.0% | 284 |
| I-191 relief under former INA 212(c) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% | 165 |
- The I-601A median of 25.4 months is the longest among the family forms USCIS reports; see the comparison below and the full family pipeline in Marriage Green Card Statistics 2026.
- Unlawful presence bars and the fraud ground are described at INA 212(a)(9)(B) and INA 212(a)(6)(C).
Show the data
| Form | Median months | Pending |
|---|---|---|
| I-601A | 25.4 | 77,755 |
| I-751 | 22.6 | 339,830 |
| I-130 IR | 13 | 786,723 |
| N-400 | 9.5 | 727,371 |
| I-129F | 9 | 35,871 |
| I-485 family | 7 | 611,067 |
How to read these numbers
- Approval share
- Approved ÷ (approved + denied) in the quarter, computed from USCIS counts. Decisions in a quarter mostly concern applications filed a year or two earlier.
- I-601A vs. I-601
- The I-601A provisional waiver covers only the unlawful presence bars and is filed from inside the United States before leaving for a consular interview. The I-601 covers unlawful presence and other grounds (misrepresentation, certain crimes, health) and is filed after a finding of inadmissibility, often from abroad.
- I-212
- Permission to reapply for admission after a removal order or deportation; often filed together with an I-601 or I-601A.
- Pending
- Applications awaiting a decision at the end of the quarter. USCIS notes that administrative closures and transfers are not reflected, so pending counts cannot be reconciled across quarters.
Sources and method
Every figure on this page comes from a file published by the U.S. government, retrieved October 31, 2026. The tables were extracted from the original PDF and Excel files by scripts that check each table against the totals printed in the same file (row sums, recomputed rates, fiscal-year sequences). Derived measures such as approval shares and year-over-year changes are computed from the published counts, and the formula is stated next to each one.
The federal fiscal year starts on October 1: FY2026 runs from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026. Partial years are marked. Agencies suppress small cells to protect privacy; those cells are shown as “—” and left out of sums, which explains small gaps against national totals.
- USCIS: All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types, FY2025 Q4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · agency page
- USCIS: All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types, FY2026 Q1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · agency page
- USCIS: All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types, FY2026 Q2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · agency page
- USCIS: All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types, FY2026 Q3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · agency page
- USCIS: Number of Waivers by Form Number and Case Status, FY2025 Q4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · agency page
- USCIS: Number of Waivers by Form Number and Case Status, FY2026 Q2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · agency page
- USCIS: Number of Waivers by Form Number and Case Status, FY2026 Q3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · agency page
General information, not legal advice. Statistics describe groups of cases, not yours: an outcome depends on the facts, the evidence, the court and the governing law. Publication does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Told you are inadmissible, or barred from a green card?
A waiver case is won on evidence of extreme hardship to a qualifying relative, and half of the I-601 decisions in the latest quarter were denials, so the evidence has to be right the first time. Tell us which ground was cited and who your U.S. citizen or resident relative is; attorney Anna Tsibel prepares I-601, I-601A and I-212 waivers in English and Russian.
We take these cases: Asylum, Deportation and removal defense, Family and marriage-based immigration, K-1 fiancé(e) visa, I-751 removal of conditions and waivers, Inadmissibility waivers, VAWA self-petitions, Citizenship and naturalization.
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