USCIS adjudicated 4,128 EB-1A petitions in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, covering January through March 2026. It approved 1,723 of them and denied 2,405. That is an approval rate of 41.7%, and it means the agency denied more EB-1A petitions than it approved. Find out what this number means for your record.
The current EB-1A approval rate is 41.7%, based on reviewed petitions in the second quarter of the Fiscal Year 2026, between January and March 2026. During this period, USCIS approved 1,723 cases and denied 2,405 cases according to the agency's latest I-140 report.
The EB-1A approval rate is also the same thing as the EB-1A success rate or acceptance rate. Here’s a trend of the approval rate over the last four years.
Source: USCIS Immigration and Citizenship Data
The EB-1 visa has three subcategories, and their approval rates are not close to each other. In Q2 FY 2026, EB-1A approval rate was 41.7%, EB-1B was 93.8%, and EB-1C was 97.0%.
The spread is the most important thing in the table. An EB-1A petition and an EB-1C petition are separated by 55 percentage points even while within the same visa preference.
Additionally, out of the 2,612 EB-1 denials, 2,405 of them were from EB-1A. Meaning, roughly 92% of all EB-1 denials are from the EB-1A, accounting for 45% of the decisions.
As a result, the overall EB-1 approval rate of 71.7% is highly dependent on sub-category. A researcher checking their own odds should use the EB-1B approval rate.
Note: None of the three subcategories has its own quota. EB-1 as a whole receives 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based limit plus unused fourth and fifth preference numbers, and EB-1A, EB-1B, and EB-1C are all from that same pool.
The 41.7% approval rate is just an average, it doesn't define your personal chances. USCIS evaluates your case strictly on your own evidence, matching it against the ten regulatory criteria and the final merits standard. Before worrying about the numbers, keep these three points in mind:
Instead of stressing over the 41.7% figure, focus on thoroughly building and testing your record against the official criteria before submitting your application.
EB-1A is the only subcategory where you can file for yourself. EB-1B and EB-1C petitions, on the other hand, are filed by an employer. In both cases an organization, and usually its legal counsel, reviews the case and decides whether it is worth filing at all. Petitions that would obviously fail tend not to get filed. This acts as a natural filter for the pool.
In the EB-1A that structure does not exist, unless the applicant requires. Any individual may file for themselves. So USCIS sees petitions all prepared differently, from meticulously documented records to filings assembled in a rush. Without an employer or legal counsel to vet the case beforehand, the approval rate is naturally lower.
EB-1B and EB-1C rely on "institutional facts", things like your job title, company structure, or academic appointments. These are easier to verify against a set standard. EB-1A is different because it’s about your personal reputation and acclaim, which is much more a matter of professional judgment than just checking a record of employment.
EB-1A adjudication uses a two-step process. First, an officer checks if you meet the basic technical criteria. Then comes a much more subjective second step: a "final merits determination" where they decide if your record as a whole truly proves you are at the top of your field.
The USCIS Policy Manual makes it clear that satisfying step one is not enough to guarantee an approval. Because the second step is discretionary, an officer can agree you met the criteria but still deny the case because they weren't personally convinced by your evidence.
When you combine a pool of self-filed cases with this subjective second look, the gap in approval rates makes sense. You don't need to assume officer bias to explain the numbers; the system is simply built to be more selective.
The EB-1B approval rate for the second quarter of FY 2026 is 93.8%. USCIS received 1,649 cases, approved 1,546 cases, and denied 103 cases. Compared to previous years, the current approval rate is declining. But since it still holds above 90%, it’s still a positive signal.
If you are weighing EB-1A against EB-1B and you hold a qualifying academic appointment, the gap between EB-1A’s 41.7% and EB-1B’s 93.8% is large enough to be the deciding factor on its own. Confirm which category your position and evidence actually support before filing either.
EB-1C approval rate is 97.0% and is the most consistent in the EB-1 category in the last year. EB-1C covers multinational managers and executives and the sponsoring company files the petition.
Success in an EB-1C case usually comes down to hard facts: corporate structure, the legal relationship between offices, and clear evidence of your management role. Because these are mostly documentary questions with "yes" or "no" answers, there is far less room for the kind of subjective officer judgment that makes EB-1A so unpredictable.
If your profile fits both categories, keep in mind that the corporate route has a higher approval rate, more than double of that of the "extraordinary ability" path. Look closely at both options before you commit to one over the other.
The two categories EB-1A candidates most often weigh against it are the O-1A nonimmigrant visa and the EB-2 National Interest Waiver.
Even though O-1A and EB-1A use very similar "extraordinary ability" standards, their approval rates were about 44 percentage points apart in the same quarter.
Why? Mainly because the O-1A is a temporary visa that requires an employer or agent to sign off on it first. That acts as a built-in filter that the self-filed EB-1A just doesn't have. If you want to dive deeper into those numbers, we have a full O-1A approval rate analysis you can read.
Lately, the EB-2 NIW has actually been under even more pressure than the EB-1A. In the first quarter of 2026, USCIS denied more NIW petitions than it approved for the second quarter in a row even though the rate slightly increased to 42.6%.
1. Go beyond the three-criteria threshold: On the surface, you are required to meet at least three out of the ten criteria. But the EB-1A has a two-step adjudication process and many petitions fail at the second step where the total record must demonstrate sustained national or international acclaim. The best way to prove this is by building undeniable evidence. And building such requires exceeding three criteria.
While the EB-1A is a self-petition visa, you can improve your odds while working with an EB-1 visa lawyer with extensive experience in filing EB-1A cases. At Beyond Border, our attorneys will review your evidence against the criteria and against the final merits standard, and tell you whether the record supports filing now, what would need to change, and how long that is likely to take.
Ready to build a strong EB-1A petition? Schedule a free consultation today to see how Beyond Border can help, or start with the EB-1A eligibility checker to see how your profile maps to the criteria.
The EB-1A approval rate is 41.7% based on petitions reviewed in the second quarter of FY 2026, which covers January through March 2026. It approved 1,723 petitions and denied 2,405 in that quarter.
The current EB-1A denial rate is 58.3%, based on petitions reviewed in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026. EB-1A accounted for 2,405 of the 2,612 denials USCIS issued across all EB-1 subcategories in that quarter.
Judging from their approval rates, the two are close. The categories have different requirements and evidence, which reflects in the rate. You can’t choose one for the other unless your record explicitly supports it.
27,024 EB-1A petitions were awaiting a decision at the end of March 2026, out of 41,726 pending across all of EB-1. New filings are more than the adjudicated cases, so there’s still a backlog of pending cases.
No, it does not. There is no public USCIS data that proves that getting an RFE reduces your approval odds. An RFE is issued based on the evidence at the time of adjudication. If the officer is not yet convinced on your record they may issue an RFE. Your response determines if you receive an approval or a denial.
It’s both. The approval rate is declining and there are still new filings being recorded. The most important thing is to submit a strong petition that is undeniably convincing for the officer.
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