N-400 Final-Stage Wait Holds at 40 Days, Down 4 Days From Last Year
The week of August 24 brought no anomaly flags and a median sitting exactly on the 12-week trailing average. A gentle downward slope points to modest further improvement, though the fit is noisy.
N-400 naturalization cases approved in the week of August 24 posted a final-stage wait of 40 days, up 1 day from the prior week but 4 days below the same week last year (44 days, across roughly 3,200 approvals). The 12-week trailing average also lands at 40 days, placing this week squarely in line with the recent pattern. No anomaly flags fired. An 8-week slope of -1.6 days per week suggests the wait is drifting lower, though an R² of 0.35 means that direction is real but not yet a clean line. For applicants watching the numbers closely, this is a week of measured stability with a mild positive lean.
- The N-400 final-stage median was 40 days the week of August 24, matching the 12-week trailing average exactly and landing 4 days below the same week last year (44 days).
- The 8-week slope is -1.6 days per week, consistent with a downward drift from the July peak near 50 days, though an R² of 0.35 means the trend is noisy.
- Cases with an RFE (Request for Evidence) response cleared in 33 days this week, 8 days faster than plain cases at 41 days, a pattern consistent with a self-selected group of resolved responses.
- The three largest pending buckets hold a combined 455,532 cases, with the 'USCIS Is Currently Processing the Case' stage alone accounting for 182,978 cases at a raw median of 111 days.
- The total active N-400 pending backlog grew by roughly 3,500 cases (+1.2%) over the most recent 28-day window, a modest increase consistent with intake outpacing approvals in the near term.
Forty days, and holding
The final-stage median for N-400 approvals came in at 40 days the week of August 24, 1 day above last week's 39 days and 4 days below the same week a year ago (44 days across roughly 3,200 approvals). No anomaly flags fired this week. The 40-day reading sits exactly on the 12-week trailing average of 40 days, meaning this week is neither a high nor a low within the recent range. Applicants watching weekly numbers can read this as a stable moment in what has been a slowly improving arc.
A slow drift lower, not yet a clean line
The 8-week slope of -1.6 days per week translates to roughly 10 days of improvement measured from the late-July peak near 50 days down to this week's 40. That direction is real, but the R² of 0.35 means week-to-week noise is substantial, and the slope should be read as a tendency rather than a guaranteed trajectory. The spread between the 25th percentile (p25) and the 75th percentile (p75) illustrates the asymmetry: the p25 has held in the high-20s throughout the 12-week window, while the p75 widened from around 40 days in early June to 69 days this week. The lower half of approvals is clearing quickly; a longer tail at the upper end is keeping the interquartile range (the spread between p25 and p75, here spanning roughly 41 days) wide.
The faster half of cases is clearing in the high-20s; the slower half stretches well past 69 days, giving the trend its uneven shape.
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