EB-1 Approval Rate 2026: EB-1A Falls to 32% While EB-1B and EB-1C Hold Steady

Reviewed by: Beth Persky, Esq.

The EB-1A approval rate fell to 32.2 percent in the latest quarter USCIS has published (April through June 2026), while EB-1B and EB-1C approval rates stayed above 93 percent. Across the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026, USCIS approved 40.7 percent of the EB-1A (extraordinary ability) petitions it decided, down from 66.9 percent in fiscal year 2025 and about 72 percent in fiscal year 2024. EB-1B (outstanding professors and researchers) came to 93.8 percent and EB-1C (multinational executives and managers) to 97.2 percent over the same nine months.

Those figures are calculated by Ashoori Law from the counts USCIS publishes in its Form I-140 reports, using one formula throughout: approvals divided by approvals plus denials. FY2026 data is partial. It covers the first three quarters (October 2025 through June 2026). USCIS had not released fourth-quarter data (July through September 2026) as of October 19, 2026. This article sets out the numbers by year and by quarter, explains what they measure and what they do not, and separates the documented policy and court developments from speculation about why the EB-1A rate fell.

How we calculate the EB-1 approval rate

USCIS publishes four counts for each period in its Form I-140 reports: petitions received, approved, denied, and pending. It does not publish an approval rate. Every rate in this article uses the same formula:

Rates you see elsewhere can differ because they use another denominator. Some divide approvals by approvals, denials and pending cases together, which produces a lower number (for example, a 60.7% figure sometimes cited for FY2024 EB-1A uses that method; on our formula the same data gives about 72.2%). Others divide approvals by receipts, which mixes petitions filed in one period with decisions made in another. Each of those calculations measures something different, and none should be called an approval rate without stating its denominator. They cannot be compared with each other or with the rates here.

USCIS notes several limits in its own reports: decisions in a period may relate to petitions filed earlier, counts can be revised between releases because of system updates and post-adjudicative outcomes, withdrawals and administrative closures are not reflected, and requests for evidence (RFEs) are not counted at all. A petition that received an RFE and was later approved appears only as an approval.

EB-1 approval rates by fiscal year, FY2020 to FY2026

The table below shows all EB-1 subcategories combined. Counts are as read from USCIS Form I-140 data; the approval rate column is our calculation.

Counts: USCIS Form I-140 data. FY2026 counts are the sum of the three quarters in the FY2026 Q3 release. Rates calculated by Ashoori Law. FY2019 counts were not available for this draft.

From FY2020 to FY2024, the combined EB-1 approval rate stayed between about 82 and 90 percent. It fell to 81.2 percent in FY2025 and to 69.8 percent in the first three quarters of FY2026, the lowest figure in this series. Filing volume also rose: EB-1 receipts were reported at about 41,000 in FY2024 and about 51,000 in FY2025, and pending EB-1 petitions stood at roughly 43,000 at the end of FY2026 Q3. Those receipt and pending counts should be confirmed against the current USCIS release before being quoted.

The combined figure looks like a broad EB-1 decline. The subcategory data shows it is not.

EB-1A, EB-1B and EB-1C: the subcategory split

USCIS reports EB-1 petitions by subcategory code: E11 for EB-1A extraordinary ability (self-petition allowed), E12 for EB-1B outstanding professors and researchers (employer petition), and E13 for EB-1C multinational executives and managers (employer petition).

Figures in parentheses are approvals / decided petitions. FY2024 full-year subcategory counts could not be confirmed for this draft; the FY2024 EB-1A figure is derived from published shares and should be checked against the FY2024 Q4 USCIS file. Subcategory data for FY2019 to FY2023 is not shown because it could not be confirmed from the USCIS files available for this draft.

Three points stand out:

1. EB-1A carries almost all of the change. EB-1A accounted for 7,639 of the 8,195 EB-1 denials in FY2026 Q1 to Q3, about 93 percent.
2. EB-1C is flat. Its approval rate has stayed between about 96 and 98 percent in every period shown.
3. EB-1B moved, but modestly. Its rate eased from 97.8 percent to 93.8 percent. That is a real change in the data, but far smaller than EB-1A, and the number of EB-1B denials remains low (281 in three quarters).

The three subcategories also differ in how a petition reaches USCIS. EB-1B requires an employer petition and an offer of a permanent research position or a tenured or tenure-track teaching position (8 CFR 204.5(i)). EB-1C requires a petition from a qualifying U.S. employer and at least one year of qualifying employment abroad with a related entity in the three years before the petition (8 CFR 204.5(j)). EB-1A may be filed by the individual without an employer. The data does not show whether this difference explains the gap, but it is a reason the three subcategories should not be read as one market.

The gap in one view:

Rates calculated by Ashoori Law as approvals / (approvals + denials) from USCIS Form I-140 data. FY2026 covers October 2025 to June 2026 only.

The EB-1A decline quarter by quarter

Counts as read from USCIS quarterly I-140 releases; FY2024 Q2 and Q3 were not available for this draft. USCIS revises earlier quarters in later releases, so counts for the same quarter can differ slightly between files (for example, FY2026 Q1 EB-1A approvals appear as 2,166 in the Q3 release and as 2,180 in an earlier report). Where files differ, this article uses the most recent release.

The quarterly pattern is consistent: the EB-1A rate was in the low to mid 70s through FY2025 Q2, then declined in each of the next five reported quarters. FY2026 Q1 was the first quarter in this series in which USCIS denied more EB-1A petitions than it approved, and in FY2026 Q3 it denied about two for every one approved. The number of decided EB-1A petitions per quarter stayed in a similar range (about 4,100 to 5,300), so the falling rate reflects more denials and fewer approvals, not a collapse in decisions.

What changed? Documented policy and court developments

USCIS has not published an explanation for the EB-1A decline. What can be documented is the legal framework and a few 2024 to 2026 developments. None of them, on the public record, is shown to have caused the change in the numbers.

The legal standard: two steps under Kazarian

Under INA 203(b)(1)(A) and 8 CFR 204.5(h), an EB-1A petitioner must show either a one-time achievement (a major, internationally recognized award) or, if not relying on such an award, at least three of the ten criteria in 8 CFR 204.5(h)(3). Where those criteria do not readily apply to the occupation, comparable evidence may be submitted under 8 CFR 204.5(h)(4). Under Kazarian v. USCIS, 596 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 2010), and current USCIS Policy Manual guidance (Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 2), officers then make a “final merits determination”: whether the evidence as a whole shows sustained national or international acclaim and that the person is among the small percentage at the very top of the field, applying a preponderance of the evidence standard. Meeting the initial evidentiary threshold therefore does not by itself establish eligibility under current policy. The petitioner must also show intent to continue working in the area of expertise and that the work will substantially benefit the United States. Our guide to the EB-1A criteria covers each criterion and the final merits step in detail.

USCIS updated its extraordinary ability guidance in September 2023 (addressing comparable evidence and how past awards and team achievements are considered) and again in October 2024 (addressing team awards, memberships, published material, exhibitions, and related points). USCIS described both as clarifications. Both predate the quarters in which the EB-1A rate fell: in FY2025 Q1 and Q2, the first two quarters after the October 2024 update, the rate was 74.7 percent and 72.7 percent. Readers should check the Policy Manual update history for any later change.

A court challenge to the final merits step

In Mukherji v. Miller, No. 4:24-CV-3170 (D. Neb.), a federal district court in Nebraska set aside an EB-1A denial, finding that the final merits step had not been adopted through notice-and-comment rulemaking. USCIS appealed to the Eighth Circuit and later withdrew the appeal. The ruling resolved that petitioner’s case. It is not binding precedent elsewhere, and USCIS has not announced any change to the two-step framework. Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) non-precedent decisions issued in 2026 continue to apply the final merits determination, including in cases where the petitioner cited Mukherji on appeal; those decisions show current agency practice, not the full status of the federal litigation. The EB-1A approval rate continued to fall in the quarters after the decision. The decision date, the appellate disposition, and the current status of the litigation could not be confirmed from the court dockets for this article and should be checked before being relied on.

The August 2026 RFE and NOID policy

The prior version of this page reported that on August 5, 2026, USCIS issued Policy Alert PA-2026-05, “Evidence, Requests for Evidence, and Notices of Intent to Deny,” allowing officers to deny a request for lack of initial evidence or for ineligibility without first issuing an RFE or a notice of intent to deny (NOID), and applying it to requests pending or filed on or after that date. We could not locate that alert on the USCIS Policy Manual updates page for this draft. The most recent RFE and NOID guidance we could confirm is the June 9, 2021 update to Policy Manual Volume 1, Part E, Chapter 6, which generally directs officers to issue an RFE or NOID when additional evidence could establish eligibility, while preserving the authority in 8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(ii) to deny for lack of required initial evidence or for ineligibility. Which guidance is current must be confirmed from the USCIS Policy Manual before this page is relied on.

Either way, the latest published data (FY2026 Q3) ends June 30, 2026, before any August 2026 policy would have taken effect. A policy issued in August 2026 cannot explain the decline shown above. Whether it affects later quarters will only be visible when USCIS publishes them, starting with the FY2026 Q4 report.

Filing volume

EB-1 receipts rose from about 41,000 in FY2024 to about 51,000 in FY2025. A larger, broader applicant pool can lower an aggregate rate without any change in the standard, because the mix of petitions changes. That is a possible factor, not one the data proves, and it is the same point made in our analysis of the EB-2 NIW approval rate trend. 

What the approval rate does not tell you

• It is not a probability for your petition. It blends strong and weak, complete and incomplete filings. A petition is decided on its own evidence.
• It does not break down by field. USCIS’s quarterly I-140 reports do not publish EB-1A outcomes by occupation, country of birth or evidence profile.
• It does not count RFEs. A case that received an RFE and was then approved counts as an approval.
• It does not show the cohort outcome. Decisions in FY2026 include petitions filed in earlier years, and some FY2026 filings will be decided later.
• It is not a forecast. The quarterly trend says nothing certain about the next release.
• It says nothing about visa availability. An approved I-140 is only the first step. Whether a visa number is available depends on the Department of State Visa Bulletin and the beneficiary’s country of chargeability, and EB-1 has been subject to final action date cutoffs for some countries in recent fiscal years.

What a denial means in practice

A higher denial share raises the stakes of a weak filing, so it helps to know what follows a denial.

• Appeal or motion. A denied I-140 petitioner may appeal to the AAO on Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion. For an ordinary I-140 denial, USCIS must receive the appeal within 30 calendar days after service of the decision, plus 3 days when the decision was served by mail (8 CFR 103.3(a)(2)(i) and 8 CFR 103.8(b)). Mailing by the deadline is not enough; the filing must reach USCIS by then. Shorter periods apply to some other decisions, such as certain revocations, and the deadline printed on the decision notice controls. A motion to reopen or reconsider is filed on the same form and is subject to its own timing rules. The Form I-290B filing fee is $800 as of October 19, 2026, with limited no-fee categories listed in the USCIS fee schedule. The AAO publishes its own processing time data; appeal timelines vary and can change.
• Refiling. A denial does not bar a new petition, which carries a new filing fee. The new petition receives its own priority date. Under 8 CFR 204.5(e), a beneficiary may be able to retain the priority date of a previously approved EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 petition, but not where that approval was revoked for fraud, willful misrepresentation of a material fact, material error, or invalidation of the underlying labor certification.
• Status consequences. A denial of the I-140 by itself does not end a valid nonimmigrant status such as H-1B or O-1. If an Adjustment of Status application (Form I-485) was filed based on the denied petition, the I-485 generally cannot be approved on that basis. The USCIS Policy Manual (Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 8) allows a pending I-485 to be transferred to a different qualifying basis in some circumstances, but the replacement petition generally must be properly filed before the original petition is denied, withdrawn, or revoked, and transfer is subject to category-specific rules and USCIS discretion. Employment authorization issued because of a pending I-485 is subject to the automatic termination rules in 8 CFR 274a.14 when the I-485 is denied; it is not a substitute for work authorization under a separate nonimmigrant status. Advance parole is a travel document, not a status and not work authorization. Anyone relying on a pending I-485 for work or travel should get advice before the I-140 decision, not after.
• Premium processing does not change the standard. Premium processing (Form I-907) buys a faster decision, not a different one. USCIS’s historic processing times page, checked on October 19, 2026, reported FY2026 national medians through August 30, 2026 of 1.0 month for premium-filed I-140 petitions and 3.6 months for non-premium I-140 petitions. Those are historical medians for completed cases, not expected times for any particular filing. Processing times vary by case and can change; check the live USCIS processing times page.

What this means if you are considering an EB-1 petition

For employer-sponsored EB-1B and EB-1C petitions, the published data shows approval rates close to their recent historical levels. For self-petitioned EB-1A cases, it shows that a much larger share of decided petitions is being denied than in FY2024 or early FY2025. The statute and regulation that set the EB-1A standard have not changed; what has moved is Policy Manual guidance, the litigation described above, and the data. The practical focus is the same, with less room for a thin record:

1. Build for the final merits step, not only the initial criteria. Show how the evidence, taken together, places you at the top of your field and shows acclaim that is sustained. The Policy Manual directs officers to consider the petition in its entirety, and it expects the petitioner to explain the significance of each piece of evidence rather than leaving the officer to infer it.
2. Expect that missing initial evidence may lead to denial without an RFE. Under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(ii), USCIS may deny a petition for lack of required initial evidence or for ineligibility instead of requesting the missing evidence, and the August 2026 guidance described above, if confirmed, broadens when officers do so. Each claimed criterion should be supported at filing by documents that match the wording of 8 CFR 204.5(h)(3).
3. Do not file an I-485 on the assumption the I-140 will be approved. An I-485 may be filed concurrently with, or after, the I-140 only when a visa number is available under the Visa Bulletin chart USCIS designates for that month (Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing) for your category and country of chargeability. USCIS announces the applicable chart each month on its adjustment of status filing charts page. If the I-140 is denied, the I-485 generally cannot be approved on that basis unless it was transferred to another qualifying basis in time.
4. Compare categories honestly. In the first half of FY2026, based on the FY2026 Q2 release, the EB-1A approval rate (44.7%) and the EB-2 NIW approval rate (45.5%) were close, a far narrower gap than in earlier years when EB-1A ran well above the NIW rates shown in our NIW analysis. Later USCIS releases can revise those counts. Our EB-1 vs EB-2 comparison explains how the two routes differ in standard and in visa availability.
5. Check the current data before filing. USCIS releases I-140 data quarterly, and the FY2026 Q4 release may change the picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the EB-1 approval rate in 2026?

  For all EB-1 subcategories combined, USCIS approved 69.8% of the petitions it decided in FY2026 Q1 to Q3 (October 2025 to June 2026). By subcategory, EB-1A was 40.7%, EB-1B 93.8%, and EB-1C 97.2%. Ashoori Law calculated these rates from USCIS counts as approvals divided by approvals plus denials.

• What is the EB-1A approval rate right now?

  In the latest published quarter, FY2026 Q3 (April to June 2026), it was 32.2%: 1,348 approvals and 2,832 denials. That is down from 66.9% in FY2025 and about 72% in FY2024. No published data covers decisions after June 30, 2026.

• Did the EB-1B and EB-1C approval rates also fall?

  Not to the same degree. EB-1C stayed at about 97% in every FY2026 quarter. EB-1B eased from 97.8% in FY2025 to 93.8% in FY2026 so far, a much smaller change than EB-1A.

• Is FY2026 data complete?

  No. As of October 19, 2026, USCIS had published Q1 to Q3 (October 2025 through June 2026). Fourth-quarter data had not been released.

• When will USCIS publish the FY2026 Q4 EB-1 data?

  USCIS does not announce release dates for its quarterly I-140 reports in advance, and the interval between the end of a quarter and the posting of its report has varied. Check the USCIS Immigration and Citizenship Data page for the current release.

• Why do other websites show different EB-1 approval rates?

  Mostly because of the formula. Some divide approvals by approved, denied and pending cases, which gives a lower figure; others divide by receipts. Counts also change slightly between USCIS releases.

• Why did the EB-1A approval rate drop?

  USCIS has not said. The statute and regulation, and the final merits determination applied under Kazarian v. USCIS and the Policy Manual, are unchanged. Filing volume increased, but the data does not prove a cause, and any August 2026 RFE and NOID policy took effect after the latest published quarter.

• Does the Mukherji court decision end the final merits determination?

  No. The district court ruling in Mukherji v. Miller resolved that petitioner’s case, USCIS withdrew its appeal, and USCIS has not announced a change to its two-step review. AAO decisions issued in 2026 continue to apply the final merits determination.

• Is EB-1A now harder than EB-2 NIW?

  In the first half of FY2026, based on the FY2026 Q2 release, the two had similar approval rates (44.7% for EB-1A, 45.5% for EB-2 NIW). They use different legal standards, so which fits depends on your record, not on the aggregate rate.

• Does the approval rate differ by country of birth?

  USCIS’s quarterly I-140 reports break out EB-1 by subcategory but do not publish EB-1A approval rates by country of birth, field, or evidence profile, so no country-level EB-1A approval rate can be calculated from them. Country of chargeability affects visa availability under the Visa Bulletin, which is a separate question from whether the I-140 is approved.

• If my EB-1A is denied, can I appeal, and how long do I have?

  You may appeal to the AAO on Form I-290B. For an ordinary denial, USCIS must receive the appeal within 30 calendar days after service of the decision, plus 3 days if it was mailed; the deadline on your notice controls, and shorter periods apply to some other decisions. The filing fee is $800 as of October 19, 2026. You may instead file a motion to reopen or reconsider, or file a new petition. Which option fits depends on why the petition was denied.

• Does an EB-1A denial affect my H-1B or O-1 status?

  Not by itself. A denied I-140 does not cancel a valid nonimmigrant status. The risk is for anyone who filed Form I-485 based on the petition, because the I-485 generally cannot be approved on that basis, and employment authorization issued because of the pending I-485 is subject to automatic termination rules when the I-485 is denied.