FY2026 Q2 · USCIS record
I-130 processing time for a Child Under 21
12.5 mo
Median processing time
half of cases took longer
761,638
Still pending
in this category
150,203
Decided this quarter
approvals and denials
126,666
Filed this quarter
new petitions received
Which category your case is counted in
An unmarried child under 21 of a U.S. citizen is an immediate relative.
USCIS does not publish a separate processing time for an unmarried child under 21 of U.S. citizen. It publishes I-130 as Immediate Relative, and that is the queue your petition sits in — so the figures above are that category's, not an estimate made for this page.
Also counted in the same category: a spouse of a U.S. citizen, a parent of a U.S. citizen .
What comes after the petition
Immediate relatives are not capped. Turning 21 can move a case out of this category; the Child Status Protection Act addresses that in some circumstances.
Reading the number
12.5 months is a median: half of the I-130 Immediate Relative petitions USCIS finished in FY2026 Q2 took longer than that, and half took less. It describes cases that were completed in the quarter, so it says nothing directly about a case filed today — a queue of 761,638 pending petitions sits ahead of a new filing.