The I-485 processing time is the wait between the day USCIS receives your green card application and the day it decides it. In New York, that wait now runs from about a year to almost two years, depending on the office that handles your case. For many families, those months can feel like a life on hold.
At Pozo Goldstein, LLP, our attorneys guide New Yorkers through the green card process every week. Frieda M. Goldstein, managing partner of our New York office, is a former U.S. immigration prosecutor who also clerked for the immigration court in New York. In this guide, we explain current USCIS timelines, what slows a case down, and how to protect your application while you wait.
What Is the I-485 Processing Time in New York Right Now?
Form I-485 is the Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. It lets an eligible person apply for a green card without leaving the United States, a process called adjustment of status. Applicants who live abroad, or who do not qualify to adjust, use consular processing instead.
USCIS publishes estimates for each office on its case processing times page. When we checked on November 11, 2026, USCIS reported these times for family-based cases at the New York field offices:
- New York City (26 Federal Plaza): 80% of cases completed within 14.5 months;
- Long Island: 16.5 months;
- Brooklyn: 19 months; and
- Queens: 21 months.
These figures change every month. Therefore, check the USCIS tool again before you make plans that depend on your green card.
How USCIS Measures the I-485 Processing Time
USCIS bases each estimate on how long it took to complete 80% of the cases it decided over the past six months. In other words, most applicants finish sooner, but about one in five waits longer than the posted time.
National numbers look quite different. According to USCIS’s historical processing times, the national median for family-based cases was 6.4 months in fiscal year 2026, which ended on September 30, 2026. A median marks the point when half of the cases were done, so it always looks shorter than the 80% figure. Even so, the New York offices currently take longer than the national median.
Which USCIS Office Handles Your Case?
Your home address decides which field office reviews your application. Residents of Manhattan generally report to the New York City Field Office at 26 Federal Plaza, while Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island have field offices of their own. Your receipt notice, Form I-797C, names the office that holds your file.
If USCIS schedules your interview at 26 Federal Plaza, read our guide to USCIS appointments at 26 Federal Plaza before you go.
What Happens After You File Form I-485?
Most family-based cases begin with an I-130 petition from a relative, often filed together with the I-485. After you file, the case usually moves through these steps:
- USCIS mails a receipt notice, usually within a few weeks.
- You attend a biometrics appointment for fingerprints and a photo.
- USCIS decides any work permit or travel document applications that came with your case.
- An officer may send a Request for Evidence (RFE) if something is missing.
- USCIS schedules an interview, which is common in family-based cases.
- USCIS approves or denies the application and, after an approval, mails your green card.
Each step adds time. For example, an RFE can pause your case for several months while you gather documents and USCIS reviews your response. Our guide on whether you need a lawyer for your USCIS interview in Manhattan explains how to prepare for that step.
Employment-Based Cases and the I-485 Processing Time
Employment-based applications follow a different path. On November 11, 2026, the USCIS tool showed 9.5 months for employment-based cases at field offices and 42.5 months for cases at its Service Center Operations.
Visa availability often drives these timelines. Most employment-based and family preference applicants need a current priority date under the State Department’s Visa Bulletin before USCIS can approve the case. By contrast, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, such as spouses and parents, do not wait for a visa number.
At our firm, attorney Scott Hershenson and Of Counsel Sharon KhunKhun focus on employment-based green cards. Their work includes PERM labor certification and EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 cases.
What Can Slow Down Your I-485 Processing Time?
Some delays come from USCIS workloads, but many start with the application itself. Common causes include:
- a missing medical exam (Form I-693), which USCIS has required with the I-485 since December 2, 2024;
- missing civil documents, such as birth or marriage certificates, or missing translations;
- a prior immigration violation, arrest or conviction that needs explanation;
- a new address that never reaches USCIS; and
- security and background checks that take longer than usual.
Recent policy changes have added new delays as well. Under a memo dated January 1, 2026, USCIS put on hold pending benefit applications from people of countries it lists as high-risk under presidential travel restrictions. A separate memo dated December 19, 2025, holds adjustment applications based on the Diversity Visa program.
In addition, a memo dated May 22, 2026, reminds officers that adjustment of status is a matter of discretion. You can read each of these documents on USCIS’s policy memoranda page. Because of these changes, a careful, well-documented filing matters more than ever.
Can You Speed Up Your I-485 Processing Time?
In most cases, USCIS decides applications in the order it receives them. Still, you have options when your case falls outside normal processing times:
- Use the case inquiry date tool on the USCIS processing times page, then submit an online inquiry once your case passes that date.
- Ask for an expedite only when you meet USCIS’s narrow criteria, such as severe financial loss or urgent humanitarian reasons.
- Contact the CIS Ombudsman if USCIS does not resolve a problem through its normal channels.
- After a long and unreasonable delay, consider a federal lawsuit known as a mandamus action.
Clients often ask whether a lawyer can make the process faster. Our article Is It Faster to Get a Green Card With a Lawyer? explains how careful preparation helps you avoid the delays above.
What to Do While Your Application Is Pending
The months of waiting still carry real risks, so protect your case with a few simple habits:
- Do not travel abroad without advance parole, because leaving the country usually abandons the application.
- Renew your work permit early, since USCIS cut its maximum validity to 18 months for many applicants in December 2025.
- Report any change of address within 10 days of your move.
- Keep copies of everything you send to USCIS and every notice you receive.
- Speak with a lawyer before your interview if you have ever had an arrest or an immigration violation.
How Our New York Attorneys Help With Adjustment of Status
At Pozo Goldstein, LLP, several of our lawyers once worked for the government that now reviews our clients’ applications. That experience shapes how we prepare every case.
Frieda M. Goldstein joined the U.S. Attorney General’s Honors Program as a trial attorney with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. She also prosecuted cases for ICE and served as a judicial law clerk for the immigration courts in New York and Miami.
Steven A. Goldstein also began as an INS trial attorney through the Honors Program and later prosecuted cases for the ICE Office of Chief Counsel. His background helps clients whose cases involve an arrest, a prior removal case or another complication.
Meanwhile, Ada B. Pozo, a former Miami-Dade County Court judge, presided over thousands of civil and criminal cases. She brings a judge’s view of credibility and evidence to every matter. In addition, Nathaly Henriquez focuses on family and criminal immigration.
Together, we review your eligibility before you file, assemble a complete application, prepare you for your interview, and answer any request from USCIS quickly. When a case stalls, we know which tools can move it forward.
Contact a New York Immigration Lawyer at Pozo Goldstein, LLP
If you plan to file Form I-485, or your application has passed USCIS’s posted times, talk to an attorney before the delay grows. A short consultation can uncover problems that are much easier to fix now than after an interview.
Pozo Goldstein, LLP represents individuals and families across New York City, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Our New York office is in Midtown Manhattan at 880 Third Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10022.
Call (212) 201-9031 or contact us online to schedule a consultation with an experienced New York immigration lawyer. Let our former judge and former immigration prosecutors help you move your green card case forward.
