Home News USCIS Releases First Quarter Approval Data for Fiscal Year 2026

USCIS Releases First Quarter Approval Data for Fiscal Year 2026

Highlights in the latest immigration and citizenship data includes an increase in the EB-2 NIW’s approval rate.

Written By: Caryl Espinoza Jaen |

Reviewed By: Legal Quality Lead at Manifest Law. Former Associate General Counsel at USCIS overseeing various agency training and professional responsibilities programs. Prior to USCIS, Sairah was a trial attorney at the Department of Justice in Washington DC. Before her work in the public sector, Sairah was in the private sector as an attorney in leading immigration law firms handling a variety of cases ranging from litigation and litigation support to business immigration and naturalization cases.

Updated: 16 Jun 2026

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USCIS has just released the first quarter data for the fiscal year 2026 (October 2025 to December 2025). Below are some of the key highlights for the O-1, EB-1A, and EB-2 NIW categories.

For Q1 only, the new FY 2026 approval rate data shows:

The O-1’s approval rate dropped to 91.0%
The EB-1A approval rate dropped to 47.5%
The EB-2 NIW approval rate increased to 42.6%

If you have questions about this data, and how it may impact your case, request a consultation with an experienced Manifest Law immigration attorney today.

Approval rates, in context

	Q1 FY 2026	Q4 FY 2025	Full FY 2025
O-1	91.0%	92.7%	93.9%
EB-1A	47.5%	53.4%	66.9%
EB-2 NIW	42.6%	35.7%	55.2%

To view all of USCIS’s latest statistics, check out their Immigration and Citizenship Data page.

✅ Want to look back at past approval rate trends? Read our analysis of the USCIS data from FY2025 Q3 and FY2025 Q4.

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About the Author

Caryl Espinoza Jaen

Staff Writer Caryl Espinoza Jaen is a Nicaraguan-born staff writer for Manifest Law. As a writer, he strives to cover complex topics like immigration policy with clarity, accuracy, and precision.

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