US Citizenship and Immigration Services approved 15,349 naturalization applications in August 2026, down from 16,514 in July and 18,439 in June. The agency’s pending caseload climbed to 813,453.
The totals cover applicants overall, not Indian applicants alone. The monthly data do not show whether approvals for people born in India fell at the same rate.
India was the No. 2 country of birth among people naturalized in fiscal year 2024. About 49,700 India-born people became U.S. citizens that year, accounting for 6.1 per cent of the total.
The agency did not give a reason for the August decline. As of October 22, 2026, it had announced no policy change specific to naturalization application processing.
Indian green-card holders face a longer route to citizenship
Lawful permanent residents generally qualify to apply after five years, or after three years if married to a U.S. citizen. Applicants must complete an interview and pass English and civics tests.
| India | China | ROW | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | Feb 01, 2023 | Aug 01, 2023 ▲31d | Current |
| EB-2 | Nov 01, 2013 | Oct 01, 2021 | Apr 01, 2025 ▲90d |
| EB-3 | Jan 22, 2014 ▲21d | Jan 22, 2022 ▲14d | Jun 15, 2024 ▲31d |
| F-1 | Jan 22, 2021 ▲366d | Jan 22, 2021 ▲366d | Jan 22, 2021 ▲366d |
| F-2A | Oct 22, 2026 ▲30d | Oct 22, 2026 ▲30d | Oct 22, 2026 ▲30d |
Some Indian professionals have waited years, or decades, for employment-based green cards because of per-country caps. Citizenship can remove uncertainty around travel, sponsoring relatives and voting rights.
Immigration lawyers advise applicants to submit complete applications, provide accurate information and keep residential addresses current with the agency. Those steps can prevent avoidable administrative delays, but cannot guarantee faster decisions.
August applications outnumbered approvals by more than three to one
USCIS received 54,492 applications in August, more than three times the number it approved. Of the pending cases, 513,462 had been waiting longer than six months.
The agency reported an average processing time of 12.7 months. That average differs from the median figures reported for the previous quarter.
Quarterly figures show different waits for military and regular applicants
During the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, covering April through June, USCIS received 145,872 applications. It approved 57,697 and denied 12,842, making 70,539 decisions in all, or roughly 48 decisions per 100 applications received.
| Applicant group | Received | Approved | Denied | Pending at quarter-end | Median processing time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular, non-military | 140,179 | 54,974 | 12,591 | 727,371 | 9.5 months |
| Military | 5,693 | 2,723 | 251 | 14,767 | 2.6 months |
Regular applicants accounted for 67,565 completed cases when approvals and denials are combined. The military group had 2,974 decisions. Across both groups, denials made up about 18 per cent of quarterly decisions.
For regular naturalization cases, USCIS had received 523,605 applications and completed 325,167 through June 30. Those completions included 279,685 approvals and 45,482 denials; 727,371 cases remained pending.
Houston and Dallas had the largest field-office queues
At the end of June, Houston had the largest pending caseload, followed by Dallas, Chicago, San Jose and San Antonio.
| Field office | Pending cases |
|---|---|
| Houston | 31,057 |
| Dallas | 28,662 |
| Chicago | 23,623 |
| San Jose | 20,899 |
| San Antonio | 18,999 |
Dallas received the most applications during the quarter, with 6,167, followed by Houston at 5,545 and Chicago at 5,077. Houston recorded the most approvals, 4,441. Brooklyn had 733 denials.
Jayapal linked the delays to a wider immigration clampdown
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state and ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement, criticized the slowdown on X. She cited figures compiled by David Bier of the Cato Institute.
Jayapal, a naturalized citizen born in Chennai, accused the administration of “blocking off people who… are green card holders… waiting for their citizenship approval.”
The Trump administration has also tightened other legal immigration channels, including suspending the PERM labor certification process used for employment-based green cards. That move has concerned Indian professionals.
USCIS said in a fiscal year 2024 Constitution Day and Citizenship Day fact sheet that it had effectively eliminated the Form N-400 backlog that year. The median wait was then under six months, the lowest since 2013. The agency’s fact sheet provides that earlier comparison.
Many new applicants will miss the November midterm vote
Many green-card holders who applied for citizenship this year will not be able to vote in the November midterm elections if their applications remain undecided. Green-card holders cannot vote in U.S. federal elections.
