U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) just released two snapshots of their employment-based green card inventory. As of 9/3/2026, there were about 266,000 employment based I-485s pending. By 10/5/2026 that was down to about 225k (down about 41k in just over a month).
USCIS Report
This report lists the number of pending I-485’s per category. It will show you how many people are ahead of you in your category and/or chargeable country. There is also a breakdown by priority date.
There are a number of important caveats to this report. It only includes instances where a person applied through adjustment of status. It does not include consular processing cases (those are the State Department’s responsibility). Each applicant counts as one, so a family of four counts as four applications. Please note that all numbers from the spreadsheet are estimates.
Why Did the Inventory Drop?
USCIS has not provided us with an official explanation. The decline would have been due to several factors. Since the fiscal year ended in September, that may have played a role. In October, the first Visa Bulletin for fiscal year 2027 moved some categories backward, and USCIS began using the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based cases. Each inventory report is based on the bulletin for that month, so a new bulletin can affect how the numbers appear from one report to the next.
What Means for You?
A month’s worth of data is not a trend. The report in November will tell whether the backlog is really decreasing or whether October was just an anomaly. If you are applying or have a pending employment based case, talk to an immigration lawyer about how this may affect your category or country.
As always, ILBSG actively monitors ongoing U.S. immigration news. If you have questions about any U.S. immigration related issue, contact us. Working with an experienced attorney ensures you get the right advice based on the most recent laws. In an ever-evolving immigration policy landscape, it’s particularly critical you get the right advice.