AAO Processing Times

AILA Doc. No. 15100710 (Posted 10/7/15)

The office that issued the unfavorable decision will first conduct an “initial field review” of the appeal. If that office does not take favorable action on the appeal, it will forward the appeal to the AAO and send the appellant a Notice of Transfer to the AAO. The initial field review should be completed within 45 days. The appellate review should be completed within six months or less from the time when we receive the appeal after initial field review. The AAO is unable to provide case status information on appeals awaiting the initial field review. Appellants may contact the USCIS National Customer Service Center line at (800) 3755283 (the TTY number is (800) 7671833) to inquire about a case if, within 75 days of filing an appeal, USCIS has not sent any of the following:

An approval notice;
A request for evidence;
A Notice of Transfer to the AAO; or
Any other correspondence or action from the field office.

This chart shows the average amount of time it takes to receive a decision in a particular type of case after the case file is received by the AAO. Processing times are directly related to the volume of cases received. The appellate review should be completed within six months or less from the time when we receive the appeal.

AAO Processing Times as of October 1, 2015

Form Number/Case Type/Time

I129CW
CNMI-Only Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker
6 months or less

I129F Petition for Fiancée 6 months or less

I129 H1B Nonimmigrant Specialty Occupation Worker
6 months or less

I129 H2 Temporary Nonimmigrant Worker
6 months or less

I129 H3 Temporary Nonimmigrant Trainee
6 months or less

I129 L Nonimmigrant Intracompany Transferee
6 months or less

I129 O Nonimmigrant Extraordinary Ability Worker
6 months or less

I129 P1, P2, P3 Athletes, Artists and Entertainers
6 months or less

I129 Q Cultural Exchange Worker
6 months or less

I129 R Nonimmigrant Religious Worker
6 months or less

I131 Application for Travel Document
6 months or less

I140 EB1 (A) Alien with Extraordinary Ability
6 months or less

I140 EB1 (B) Outstanding Professor or Researcher
6 months or less

I140 EB1 (C) Multinational Manager or Executive
6 months or less

I140 EB2 (D) Advanced Degree Professional
6 months or less

I140 EB2 (I) National Interest Waiver
6 months or less

I140 EB3 (E) Skilled or Professional Worker
6 months or less

I140 EB3 (G) Other Worker
6 months or less

I212 Application to Reapply for Admission
6 months or less

I352 Bond Breach
6 months or less

I360 EB4 Petition for Religious Worker
6 months or less

I360A Amerasian
6 months or less

I360 C Special Immigrant Juvenile
6 months or less

I360 K Special Immigrant Afghanistan or Iraq National Translator
6 months or less

I360 VAWA Violence Against Women Act Petition
6 months or less

I360 E Special Immigrant Canal Zone
6 months or less

I360 F Special Immigrant Physician
6 months or less

I360 H Special Immigrant Armed Forces Member
6 months or less

I360 G Special Immigrant Intl Org. Employee
6 months or less

I360 L Special Immigrant Iraq National US Employee
6 months or less

I360 M Special Immigrant Other
6 months or less

I485 LIFE Act Adjustment Application
6 months or less

I485 Dplmt Section 13 Adjustment Application
6 months or less

I485 T Visa Nonimmigrant Adjustment
6 months or less

I485 U Visa Nonimmigrant Adjustment
6 months or less

I526 EB5 Alien Entrepreneur
6 months or less

I600 Petition for Orphan
6 months or less

I601 Application for Waiver of Inadmissibility
9 months

I612 Application for 212(e) Waiver
6 months or less

I687 Legalization Application for Temporary Residence
6 months or less

I690 Legalization/SAW Waive Grounds of Excludability
6 months or less

I698 Legalization Adjustment Application
6 months or less

I700 Special Agricultural Worker
6 months or less

I821 Temporary Protected Status
6 months or less

I800 Convention Adoption as an Immediate Relative
6 months or less

I905 Application to Issue Cert for Health Care Workers
6 months or less

I914 Application for T Nonimmigrant Status
6 months or less

I918 Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status
6 months or less

I924 Application for Regional Center
6 months or less

I929 Qualifying Family Member of a U Nonimmigrant
6 months or less

N470 Application to Preserve Residence
6 months or less

N565 Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document
6 months or less

N600 Certificate of Citizenship
6 months or less

N643 Certificate of Citizenship for Adopted Child
6 months or less