N-400 Final-Stage Waits Keep Falling, But This Week Snapped Back 6 Days

Through the first 17 weeks of 2026, N-400 final-stage waits held in the high-30s, rarely moving more than 3 days in either direction. Then, in the week of May 4, the median fell to 13 days, and last week it came in at 16 days. This week the number moved the other way: 22 days, a 6-day gain that stands against a 12-week trailing average of 33 days. That trailing average is the benchmark for how far the recent run has come, not a ceiling the current reading is in danger of breaching.

The 8-week regression slope of -3.5 days per week carries an R² of 0.63, which places this trend in the moderate-to-strong range: the direction is credible, though week-to-week noise is visible. A single week's +37.3% move is large in percentage terms but, against a trend of this slope, does not signal a reversal on its own. The data does not tell us why this week's reading came in higher; it may reflect which field offices happened to schedule oath ceremony and interview waves during the week, or it may reflect ordinary sampling variation at a weekly sample of 1,034 cases.

The final-stage median captures only the last leg of the N-400 process. The bulk of pending cases sit much earlier. In the Stage durations (30-day window) data, the 'Case Is Still Being Processed By USCIS' status holds 37.8% of observed cases at a median of 144 days (25th percentile, p25, of 102 days and 75th percentile, p75, of 179 days, across 284,091 cases). The 'Interview Was Scheduled' status holds another 23.3% at a median of 50 days (p25 37 days, p75 74 days, across 174,833 cases). Together these two stages absorb more than 60% of the active queue. By contrast, the oath-ceremony stages combined account for roughly 19% of cases and show medians of 18 to 30 days, where movement is considerably faster.

One status worth noting is 'Oath Ceremony Cancelled': across 6,609 cases in the last 30 days, the median wait at that stage is 101 days (p25 68 days, p75 133 days). For applicants who missed a scheduled oath ceremony, the wait to reschedule is itself a material share of the total timeline. This is a small fraction of overall volume (0.9% of observed cases), and the data does not indicate whether the cancellations are applicant-initiated or office-initiated.

The final stage cleared in 22 days this week; cases still waiting at the processing stage have sat there a median of 144 days.

Cases that received an RFE (Request for Evidence, USCIS's standard follow-up letter asking for missing documents) posted a final-stage median of 30 days this week. Cases without an RFE posted 33 days. The speed ratio of 1.10x means the gap is minimal. This is worth noting because RFE'd cases typically carry a longer total wait: the RFE adds weeks or months earlier in the process while the applicant gathers and submits documentation. The final-stage metric here measures only the time from the last status update to approval, not the full filing-to-approval span. RFE'd cases still carry that earlier accumulated time, even if the final leg looks similar this week. The data brief does not tell us why the two groups are converging at the final stage right now.