Timelines

The timelines for obtaining different immigration benefits vary. They depend on the benefit being requested, the time of year, caseload at USCIS as well as the responsiveness of the department and the applicant. If the foreign national must obtain a visa, timelines might be skewed further, especially if the applicant is subjected to a background check. Please refer to each individual immigration status overview for an estimate of the timeline associated with each immigration status.

As a rule of thumb, departments should start the relevant request process as soon as possible, i.e. as soon as a decision has been made on the hire or continued employment of a foreign national. In many cases, ISSS can submit an immigration benefit request almost six months prior to the requested start date.

Often the longest period of time in an application process for an immigration benefit is the time USCIS needs to adjudicate a petition. For example, USCIS’s target timeframe for adjudicating E-3 petitions is two months. However, this timeframe is not guaranteed and is often exceeded by significant margins. For current processing times, please refer to the USCIS website. (For E-3 processing times, select  "I-129"  as the form type and "Vermont Service Center" under Field Office or Service Center.)