I-765 posts a preliminary 12-week low, but service centers tell very different stories
The week of May 18 shows a tentative 77-day median for I-765 Employment Authorization Document approvals, down from 150 days in March. A 135-day gap between the fastest and slowest service centers means that overall figure reflects IOE's dominance more than a uniform improvement.
The I-765 Employment Authorization Document median dropped to 77 days the week of May 18, down 2 days from the prior week and near the lowest reading in the 12-week window. That headline is genuine, but two caveats apply. First, the sample of 4,924 approvals is preliminary, running well below typical weekly volume. Second, an `uneven_centers` anomaly flag fired at 164 points, reflecting a 135-day gap between the fastest center (SRC at 44 days) and the slowest (EAC at 179 days). With roughly 61% of approvals this week flowing through IOE at 56 days, the overall median is largely an IOE story. Applicants at WAC (California Service Center), EAC, or LIN (Nebraska Service Center) face a meaningfully different wait.
- The preliminary I-765 median for the week of May 18 is 77 days, down 2 days week over week and the lowest reading in 12 weeks, but the sample of 4,924 cases is early.
- The uneven_centers anomaly flag fired at 164.46, capturing a 135-day gap between SRC (44 days) and EAC (179 days).
- IOE handled 2,983 of 4,924 approvals this week at a 56-day median, pulling the overall figure well below what WAC (137 days), LIN (148 days), and EAC (179 days) applicants are experiencing.
- Cases that received and responded to an RFE (Request for Evidence) cleared in 27 days vs. 107 days for plain-processing cases, triggering the `rfe_fast` flag; the data brief cautions this likely reflects a batch effect rather than a systematic advantage.
- The active pending backlog across 2026 filing-month groups grew by 40,157 cases (up 13.8%) over 18 days, driven largely by April 2026 filings.
77 days, but read the fine print
The I-765 Application for Employment Authorization posted a preliminary median of 77 days the week of May 18, down 2 days from the prior week. At a preliminary sample of 4,924 cases, this reading should be treated as a tentative signal; the sample is running at roughly half the typical weekly volume, so the number may shift as more approvals are recorded. The headline looks calm. Underneath it, a different picture emerges: the `uneven_centers` anomaly flag fired at 164.46 this week, reflecting a spread between service centers that is among the widest in the recent record.
From 150 days in March to 77 today
Eleven weeks ago, the I-765 median stood at 150 days (week of March 2). Since then it has worked lower at a pace of roughly 1.4 days per week. The 8-week R² of 0.24 means the decline is noisy rather than a clean linear trend: the `noisy_stable` pattern label fits. Individual weeks have bounced between 77 and 99 days in the most recent eight weeks. For applicants whose cases entered the queue earlier in the window, the 12-week trailing average of 100 days is a more representative reference point than the current 77-day reading.
The distribution around this week's median is also wide. The 25th percentile (p25) sat at 52 days, meaning a quarter of approvals cleared in under 52 days. The 75th percentile (p75) reached 195 days, meaning the slowest quarter waited nearly four months. That 143-day spread between the fastest and slowest quarters is consistent with a pipeline that is clearing some cases quickly while others remain in longer queues.
A 135-day gap between the fastest and slowest centers
The six service centers this week ranged from 44 days at SRC (Texas Service Center) to 179 days at EAC (Vermont Service Center), a 135-day gap. IOE, which handles electronically filed cases, processed 2,983 of the week's 4,924 approvals at a median of 56 days; its volume alone accounts for more than 60% of the weekly sample and is the primary reason the overall median sits where it does. WAC (California Service Center, handling a large share of West Coast filings) cleared cases in 137 days across 730 approvals, and LIN (Nebraska Service Center) came in at 148 days across 168 approvals. Those two centers are running at roughly two to three times the IOE figure. MSC (National Benefits Center, USCIS's Lee's Summit, MO facility) posted 78 days across 197 approvals, close to the overall median. The case mix differs across centers, so direct center-to-center comparisons reflect routing and category differences as much as pure processing pace.
Where a case is being processed matters more than the headline number this week: the IOE and non-IOE medians are roughly 80 days apart.
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