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I-129 worker petitions: how often USCIS asks for more evidence

H-1B petitions pending reached 156,404 as of June 30, 2026, up from 101,111 at the end of May 31, 2026.

The rise in the pending queue sits alongside a lower share of H-1B completions drawing a request for evidence this month than the month before.

156,404

H-1B petitions pending

As of June 30, 2026

6.7%

H-1B RFE rate this month

As of June 30, 2026

81.7%

H-1B approved after RFE

Through June 30, 2026

H-1B: petitions pending, month by month
156,40442,093October 2024June 2026
MonthPending at the end of the month
June 2026156,404
May 2026101,111
April 202685,134
March 202687,308
February 202689,959
January 202692,736
December 202598,033
November 202597,619
October 2025106,183
September 2025124,638
August 2025128,957
July 2025131,851
June 2025128,591
May 202563,989
April 202542,973
March 202542,093
February 202548,660
January 202556,954
December 202466,894
November 202471,134
October 202473,686

This is a count at the end of each month, not monthly activity: the file's own footnote says it cannot be added across months.

H-1B petitions pending climbed by 55,293 over the month, reaching 156,404 as of June 30, 2026.

H-1B: share of completions that drew an RFE, month by month
66.1%5.6%October 2016June 2026
MonthCompletionsCompletions that drew an RFEShare that drew an RFE
June 202641,0222,7586.7%
May 202632,8232,7238.3%
April 202631,5782,7328.7%
March 202632,3662,6538.2%
February 202627,8862,4118.6%
January 202629,0562,7359.4%
December 202526,4132,2838.6%
November 202524,4012,0748.5%
October 202533,1053,1859.6%
September 202534,1753,3759.9%
August 202532,3043,56711.0%
July 202538,3322,9807.8%
June 202536,2422,4586.8%
May 202535,3052,4887.0%
April 202537,3702,2075.9%
March 202537,4362,7727.4%
February 202532,1532,8758.9%
January 202535,5343,3199.3%
December 202429,8792,8919.7%
November 202428,9422,6709.2%
October 202437,6033,5539.4%
September 202438,2162,9987.8%
August 202442,4643,0747.2%
July 202441,4422,7296.6%
June 202436,9142,0565.6%
May 202435,0072,2406.4%
April 202432,5432,7878.6%
March 202427,8492,7599.9%
February 202429,4052,3988.2%
January 202434,9993,2409.3%
December 202330,6922,8029.1%
November 202326,5253,17112.0%
October 202331,5853,1259.9%
September 202337,2333,0578.2%
August 202340,9593,3808.3%
July 202336,0362,8067.8%
June 202336,0102,4036.7%
May 202335,0742,4356.9%
April 202328,2492,3138.2%
March 202325,8593,09212.0%
February 202323,6492,85212.1%
January 202331,1673,93212.6%
December 202232,4944,26113.1%
November 202233,1504,39413.3%
October 202237,3724,30411.5%
September 202239,2444,42811.3%
August 202247,1954,2228.9%
July 202239,2673,2068.2%
June 202242,2513,0027.1%
May 202239,5402,8247.1%
April 202240,4662,9197.2%
March 202244,5383,4387.7%
February 202233,0963,1449.5%
January 202231,1533,80912.2%
December 202129,3553,87613.2%
November 202132,2864,33413.4%
October 202133,1164,31713.0%
September 202140,1204,83812.1%
August 202144,0425,00411.4%
July 202139,7354,33310.9%
June 202142,8764,30410.0%
May 202136,5574,77013.0%
April 202137,9505,22813.8%
March 202134,5955,99617.3%
February 202123,9024,75219.9%
January 202124,8155,21921.0%
December 202024,3057,25229.8%
November 202025,6687,04627.5%
October 202043,7219,00620.6%
September 202050,4929,52818.9%
August 202048,9956,96114.2%
July 202048,7666,76413.9%
June 202046,1608,85319.2%
May 202029,3345,15017.6%
April 202026,0746,38724.5%
March 202034,62810,18929.4%
February 202032,06211,22335.0%
January 202037,87215,98342.2%
December 201934,60015,37344.4%
November 201934,68516,54247.7%
October 201942,97021,09249.1%
September 201940,47919,25347.6%
August 201947,24921,81046.2%
July 201945,20414,05131.1%
June 201940,70511,49828.2%
May 201951,24210,78021.0%
April 201936,06711,81932.8%
March 201933,44210,31430.8%
February 201931,10910,52033.8%
January 201931,62913,07741.3%
December 201828,97115,89054.8%
November 201834,54322,83966.1%
October 201838,25422,37558.5%
September 201833,49412,26036.6%
August 201837,76212,44833.0%
July 201831,91110,56033.1%
June 201836,29510,10127.8%
May 201837,6348,41022.3%
April 201830,0548,05926.8%
March 201830,20910,78035.7%
February 201829,50115,06551.1%
January 201832,11118,40657.3%
December 201727,58615,34355.6%
November 201732,59115,29746.9%
October 201737,15813,66636.8%
September 201727,71810,44337.7%
August 201727,0624,48216.6%
July 201723,6534,54319.2%
June 201732,6885,89918.0%
May 201736,9676,86218.6%
April 201745,7416,71914.7%
March 201746,6865,66012.1%
February 201731,6955,69318.0%
January 201733,4728,91226.6%
December 201632,4769,07627.9%
November 201632,6418,93027.4%
October 201632,4558,77227.0%

Each share is of that month's own completions, so the monthly shares cannot be averaged into a period figure. A petition completed this month may have been filed much earlier.

The share of H-1B completions drawing an RFE stood at 6.7% in June 2026, still below the 8.3% recorded the prior month, as of June 30, 2026.

H-1B: share approved after an RFE, month by month
89.1%56.2%October 2016June 2026
MonthCompletions that drew an RFEApproved after an RFEShare approved after an RFE
June 20262,7582,22980.8%
May 20262,7232,15979.3%
April 20262,7322,26282.8%
March 20262,6532,13280.4%
February 20262,4111,92880.0%
January 20262,7352,17079.3%
December 20252,2831,91083.7%
November 20252,0741,72283.0%
October 20253,1852,73986.0%
September 20253,3752,94987.4%
August 20253,5673,13687.9%
July 20252,9802,65189.0%
June 20252,4582,12186.3%
May 20252,4882,07883.5%
April 20252,2071,81782.3%
March 20252,7722,26181.6%
February 20252,8752,37282.5%
January 20253,3192,83585.4%
December 20242,8912,51186.9%
November 20242,6702,36688.6%
October 20243,5533,12788.0%
September 20242,9982,63287.8%
August 20243,0742,64686.1%
July 20242,7292,27983.5%
June 20242,0561,66280.8%
May 20242,2401,81180.8%
April 20242,7872,24680.6%
March 20242,7592,28882.9%
February 20242,3982,05485.7%
January 20243,2402,77485.6%
December 20232,8022,42986.7%
November 20233,1712,77787.6%
October 20233,1252,73887.6%
September 20233,0572,67587.5%
August 20233,3802,89185.5%
July 20232,8062,32182.7%
June 20232,4031,89979.0%
May 20232,4351,85776.3%
April 20232,3131,65471.5%
March 20233,0922,32275.1%
February 20232,8522,17276.2%
January 20233,9323,09578.7%
December 20224,2613,53282.9%
November 20224,3943,76885.8%
October 20224,3043,74787.1%
September 20224,4283,79585.7%
August 20224,2223,68487.3%
July 20223,2062,76286.2%
June 20223,0022,55585.1%
May 20222,8242,40685.2%
April 20222,9192,43083.2%
March 20223,4382,78681.0%
February 20223,1442,65284.4%
January 20223,8093,21884.5%
December 20213,8763,34886.4%
November 20214,3343,81588.0%
October 20214,3173,78887.7%
September 20214,8384,15986.0%
August 20215,0044,46089.1%
July 20214,3333,82088.2%
June 20214,3043,76687.5%
May 20214,7704,18487.7%
April 20215,2284,50986.2%
March 20215,9965,21787.0%
February 20214,7523,99084.0%
January 20215,2194,42084.7%
December 20207,2526,20785.6%
November 20207,0466,05886.0%
October 20209,0067,78686.5%
September 20209,5288,31587.3%
August 20206,9616,16288.5%
July 20206,7645,99988.7%
June 20208,8537,81488.3%
May 20205,1504,01978.0%
April 20206,3874,97377.9%
March 202010,1897,41872.8%
February 202011,2237,58667.6%
January 202015,98310,50765.7%
December 201915,37310,29367.0%
November 201916,54210,94066.1%
October 201921,09214,37768.2%
September 201919,25313,67471.0%
August 201921,81015,72572.1%
July 201914,05110,21972.7%
June 201911,4988,35472.7%
May 201910,7807,37768.4%
April 201911,8197,66364.8%
March 201910,3146,37361.8%
February 201910,5205,90956.2%
January 201913,0777,63958.4%
December 201815,8909,58660.3%
November 201822,83913,87860.8%
October 201822,37514,10063.0%
September 201812,2607,78863.5%
August 201812,4487,86563.2%
July 201810,5606,73263.7%
June 201810,1016,37163.1%
May 20188,4105,13161.0%
April 20188,0594,69058.2%
March 201810,7806,24257.9%
February 201815,0658,49056.4%
January 201818,40611,58863.0%
December 201715,3439,94664.8%
November 201715,2979,97965.2%
October 201713,6668,89365.1%
September 201710,4437,57172.5%
August 20174,4823,06368.3%
July 20174,5433,18970.2%
June 20175,8994,29872.9%
May 20176,8625,03873.4%
April 20176,7195,05475.2%
March 20175,6604,02171.0%
February 20175,6933,80066.7%
January 20178,9126,09168.3%
December 20169,0766,88775.9%
November 20168,9307,10779.6%
October 20168,7727,13381.3%

The denominator here is the petitions that drew an RFE, not all completions: USCIS's own "Approved with RFE" column divides by all completions and is much smaller. Each share is of that month's own RFE completions.

Of the 23,554 H-1B completions that drew an RFE between October 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, 19,251 were ultimately approved.

Share of completions that drew an RFE, October 2025 to June 2026
L-1B29.4%L-1A25.9%O24.2%Blanket L22.6%P19.9%R-118.2%TN13.0%H-1B8.5%H-2A7.9%H-2B7.1%
ClassificationWhat USCIS calls itCompletionsShare that drew an RFE
L-1BForm I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Intercompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge (L-1B)10,26329.4%
L-1AForm I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager (L-1A)18,55325.9%
OForm I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement and Essential Support Personnel (O)23,41724.2%
Blanket LForm I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Blanket L Petition99022.6%
PForm I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker Athlete, Athletic/Entertainment Group, Artist, or Entertainer and Essential Support Personnel (P)7,20319.9%
R-1Form I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker Temporary Nonimmigrant Religious Workers (R-1)6,88118.2%
TNForm I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, NAFTA Professionals (TN)11,34913.0%
H-1BForm I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker Specialty Occupations (H-1B)278,6508.5%
H-2AForm I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Temporary Agricultural Worker (H-2A)26,4257.9%
H-2BForm I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Temporary Non-Agricultural Worker (H-2B)12,6957.1%

These are the shares USCIS printed for the whole reporting period, one classification at a time. The classifications are not parts of a whole: this form covers more than the ones with a sheet, and the file prints no total.

L-1B completions drew an RFE far more often than H-2B completions over the same October 2025 to June 2026 window, as shown by 29.4% against 7.1%, as of June 30, 2026.

Before you use these numbers

  1. A share of completions that drew a request for evidence in a given month reflects petitions filed at various earlier times, so it is not a same-case before-and-after comparison.
  2. Pending counts are a snapshot at the end of each month and cannot be summed across months to measure total activity.
  3. The classifications shown are not parts of one combined total, and this form covers categories beyond those charted here.
  4. A rate calculated from a single month's completions can shift for reasons unrelated to how any individual case is being handled.
Each worker classification USCIS reports, and how often it was asked for more evidence
ClassificationCompletedDrew an RFERFE rateApproved after RFEStill pending
H-1B278,65023,5548.5%81.7%156,404
H-2A26,4252,0887.9%84.5%1,756
O23,4175,67824.2%66.8%8,925
L-1A18,5534,80325.9%71.2%7,900
H-2B12,6959067.1%89.6%813
TN11,3491,47713.0%67.7%3,068
L-1B10,2633,01429.4%74.5%5,323
P7,2031,43019.9%60.5%2,477
R-16,8811,25518.2%83.3%3,342
Blanket L99022422.6%92.9%150
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