The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released data for the third quarter of the 2026 fiscal year, showing a decrease in approval rates for three major categories of green card applications compared to the previous quarter.
According to data published on Friday (October 16) on its official website, USCIS reported a 2.6 percentage point overall decrease in green card application approval rates for adjudicated adjustment of status applications in the period from April to June of the 2026 fiscal year compared to the previous quarter.
Among the three categories, the approval rates for green card applications have declined:
The approval rate for Cuban green card applicants saw the largest decrease, dropping by 28.9 percentage points. In the previous quarter, the approval rate was 52.6%.
In the third quarter, out of 586 adjudicated adjustment of status applications from Cuban applicants, 139 were approved and 447 were denied, resulting in an approval rate of 23.7%. In the preceding quarter from January to March, 50 were approved and 45 were denied, with an approval rate of 52.6%.
For family-based immigration category, the green card approval rate decreased from 86% to 81.7%, a 4.3 percentage point decrease.
During the period from April to June, there were 54,678 approved family-based immigration applications and 12,240 denials, whereas in the previous quarter, there were 71,514 approvals and 11,689 denials.
In the employment-based immigration category, the approval rate decreased slightly from 93.9% to 93%, a 0.9 percentage point decline.
The adjudication of employment-based green card applications remained relatively steady. In the third quarter, there were 42,076 approvals and 3,160 denials, compared to 41,979 approvals and 2,717 denials in the second quarter.
On the other hand, there were increases in approval rates for two other green card application categories:
The approval rate for refugee category green cards increased from 66.1% to 69.6%, a rise of 3.5 percentage points.
The approval rate for asylum-based adjustment of status applications saw a slight increase, rising from 88.1% to 88.9%, an increase of 0.8 percentage points.
There were also notable changes in application numbers:
The number of family-based immigration applications received decreased from 127,189 to 95,175.
For employment-based immigration applications, the number received increased from 47,514 to 97,501.
According to a report by Newsweek on Friday (October 16), USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler stated that the previous Biden administration weakened review processes, allowing dangerous individuals to enter the U.S.
He emphasized the need for rigorous procedures to verify the identity and background of foreign nationals, with the primary consideration being the safety and security of the American people.
Former senior official of the Department of Homeland Security and co-founder of Globali.ai, Adam Klein, commented on the data, particularly noting the significant decrease in approval rate for Cuban applicants from 52.6% to 23.7%.
Klein cautioned against attributing these changes to any singular reason but acknowledged the substantial policy shifts within USCIS, emphasizing the increased discretion now held by USCIS officials in the adjudication process.
He added, “When officials have greater latitude to question evidence, review prior decisions, or request additional documentation, even similar cases may yield different outcomes.”