I-360 median holds flat at 174 days while active pending cases climb 14% in a month
A preliminary early read for Week 23 shows no movement in the final-stage wait, but the active backlog grew by more than 3,000 cases in 31 days, a pace that outstrips current approval rates across every recent filing-month group.
The I-360 weekly median for the week of June 1 held at 174 days, unchanged from last week, based on a preliminary sample of 548 cases approved so far. That number may shift as the week's data completes. Beneath the flat headline, the active pending backlog grew from roughly 21,200 to 24,242 cases, a gain of 3,045 cases (14.4%) over just 31 days. Cases filed in January 2026 (the largest recent filing-month group, with 10,523 total cases) remain only 1.2% cleared at 22 weeks of age. An unusual rfe_fast (Request for Evidence) anomaly also fired this week, with RFE-stamped cases clearing far faster than plain ones.
- The preliminary median of 174 days for the week of June 1 matches last week exactly, based on a partial sample of 548 cases.
- The active backlog grew +14.4% in 31 days, reaching 24,242 pending I-360 cases as of June 7.
- Cases filed in January 2026 are only 1.2% cleared at 22 weeks, and the April 2026 filing-month group added 982 active cases in the past month alone.
- An rfe_fast anomaly fired this week: RFE (Request for Evidence)-stamped cases cleared with a median of just 16 days versus 184 days for plain-processing cases, an 11.5x ratio.
- The 8-week regression slope is +0.8 days per week with an R² of 0.42, too weak to assert a clear directional trend; the 4-week forecast projects a range of approximately 170 to 182 days.
Stable on the surface, growing underneath
This week's preliminary median of 174 days matches last week's reading exactly, based on 548 cases approved so far in the week of June 1. That figure is an early read: the final sample typically runs 50% to 70% of the prior 12-week weekly pace, and the number may move once the full week's approvals are counted. The flat headline, however, sits on top of a less quiet picture. The active backlog of pending I-360 cases grew by 3,045 cases to 24,242 over the 31 days ending June 7, a 14.4% rise. The January 2026 filing-month group, the largest in the recent data with 10,523 total cases filed, has cleared just 1.2% of its volume at 22 weeks of age.
A slow drift upward, but the signal is weak
Over the last 8 weeks, the median has moved at a slope of +0.8 days per week, but the R² of 0.42 is too weak to support a confident directional claim. The 12-week range runs from 162 days (the week of March 30) to 177 days (the week of May 18), with a trailing 12-week average of 169 days. The honest read is that medians have hovered within a roughly 15-day band, with a possible but uncertain slow drift toward the higher end. The 12-week average of 169 days and the current reading of 174 days are consistent with a mild upward lean, but week-to-week noise in the series means that framing deserves a hedge.
A median that looks flat from week to week can still be edging toward the high end of its range over a longer window.
RFE cases clearing faster than plain ones, by a wide margin
The rfe_fast anomaly flag fired this week, reflecting an unusual pattern: cases that received and responded to an RFE (Request for Evidence, USCIS's standard follow-up letter asking for missing documents) cleared with a median of just 16 days, compared to 184 days for cases that moved through plain processing without an RFE. That is an 11.5x speed ratio. The data brief does not tell us why this inversion appeared in this specific week. One possibility consistent with this pattern is that a batch of older RFE responses, filed close together, cleared simultaneously, pulling the RFE-cohort (a group of cases) median down sharply. A single week is not enough to confirm any mechanism. It is also worth noting that receiving an RFE is not by itself a signal of denial; most cases that receive and respond to one are still approved.
11.53x RFE response cases clear faster than the plain processing cohort.
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