In its I-140 report, USCIS publishes counts, not approval rates. Dividing approvals by approvals plus denials, the EB-1A (extraordinary ability) approval rate was 77.8% in FY2022 and 40.7% in the first three quarters of FY2026, when denials outnumbered approvals. EB-1 as a whole was 69.8% over the same period (USCIS data accessed November 3, 2026). Neither figure is your odds.
USCIS's quarterly report "Form I-140 by Fiscal Year, Quarter and Case Status" lists the EB-1A on its own line, "Alien of Extraordinary Ability (E11)," next to the EB-1 total. It gives counts of petitions received, approved, denied, and pending, and no rates. From those counts we compute the approval rate as approvals divided by approvals plus denials in the same period. For the EB-1A: 77.8% in FY2022, 71.4% in FY2023, 72.2% in FY2024, 66.9% in FY2025, and 40.7% in the first three quarters of FY2026 (USCIS data accessed November 3, 2026). It measures decisions issued in a period, most of them on petitions filed earlier. It is not your chance of approval.
You searched for an EB-1A or EB-1 approval rate and want to know where the number comes from. This page covers the published data, what we compute from it, and what it will not support. If your question is whether you qualify, the requirements page covers the three-of-ten test and the final merits review.
USCIS posts a quarterly report titled "Form I-140 by Fiscal Year, Quarter and Case Status" on its Immigration and Citizenship Data page. For each employment-based classification it gives four counts per quarter: petitions received, approved, denied, and pending at the end of the period. It does not give an approval rate for any of them.
The first-preference (EB-1) block has three lines: "Alien of Extraordinary Ability (E11)," which is the EB-1A; "Outstanding Professor or Researcher (E12)," the EB-1B; and "Multi-national Executive or Manager (E13)," the EB-1C. A "First Preference (EB1)" line adds the three together. Because the EB-1A has its own line, the EB-1A figures on this page are E11 figures, not the EB-1 total relabeled. We show the EB-1 total separately and label it as such.
We use each fiscal year's fourth-quarter (full-year) edition for FY2022 through FY2025. FY2026 comes from the third-quarter edition, which covers October 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 only; the fourth-quarter edition had not been posted when we checked on November 3, 2026. All figures are from USCIS data accessed November 3, 2026.
"Approval rate" below is our computation from USCIS's counts: approvals divided by approvals plus denials, within the same reporting period. USCIS does not print it. We state the formula because other pages divide different things (approvals by receipts, for example) and reach very different answers.
The figures are from USCIS data accessed November 3, 2026.
| Fiscal year | Received | Approved | Denied | Pending at period end | Approval rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | 10,481 | 5,623 | 1,608 | 6,281 | 77.8% |
| FY2023 | 15,905 | 10,356 | 4,156 | 7,657 | 71.4% |
| FY2024 | 20,166 | 12,231 | 4,703 | 10,586 | 72.2% |
| FY2025 | 29,582 | 12,468 | 6,165 | 21,157 | 66.9% |
| FY2026, Q1–Q3 only | 20,496 | 5,232 | 7,620 | 28,874 | 40.7% |
The FY2026 row covers three quarters, not a year. Within it the rate fell each quarter: 47.5% in the first quarter, 41.8% in the second, and 32.2% in the third (USCIS data accessed November 3, 2026). In every one of those quarters USCIS recorded more EB-1A denials than approvals, which had not happened in any full fiscal year of the series.
We will update this page when USCIS publishes the FY2026 fourth-quarter edition. Until then, treat the FY2026 row as a partial-period observation. Scaling three quarters up to a year is arithmetic, not a forecast.
If you searched for the "EB-1 approval rate," this is the line you want, and it is not the EB-1A. The EB-1 total adds outstanding professors and researchers (EB-1B) and multinational executives and managers (EB-1C) to the EB-1A. Those two lines record very few denials: 281 and 275 in the first three quarters of FY2026, against 7,620 on the EB-1A line. So the EB-1 total runs well above the EB-1A rate, and quoting it for an extraordinary ability petition overstates the EB-1A figure.
The figures are from USCIS data accessed November 3, 2026.
| Fiscal year | Received | Approved | Denied | Pending at period end | Approval rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | 25,976 | 17,718 | 2,044 | 13,902 | 89.7% |
| FY2023 | 37,271 | 31,469 | 5,524 | 14,473 | 85.1% |
| FY2024 | 41,166 | 31,341 | 5,370 | 18,735 | 85.4% |
| FY2025 | 51,344 | 28,550 | 6,610 | 34,585 | 81.2% |
| FY2026, Q1–Q3 only | 35,656 | 18,932 | 8,176 | 43,218 | 69.8% |
The report counts actions taken during the reporting period. The approvals and denials issued in a given year are largely decisions on petitions filed in earlier periods; USCIS's own note says some applications approved, denied, or pending "may have been received in previous reporting periods." The petitions in the approved column and the petitions in the received column are not the same petitions.
The denominator includes only decisions. Withdrawals, administrative closures, and transfers are absent, and USCIS says so: "Some actions taken on cases are not reflected in this report such as administrative closures and transfers between offices." The counts are also vintage-dependent, since "[c]ounts may differ from previous periods due to system updates and post adjudicative outcomes." And because a petitioner can file more than once, the report "could contain multiple petitions for a single individual."
One calculation to watch for. Dividing approvals by receipts treats every petition still waiting in a growing queue as though it had been denied. For FY2025 that gives 12,468 out of 29,582, well under half, against our 66.9% for the same year (USCIS data accessed November 3, 2026). If a page quotes an EB-1A rate without saying what it divided by what, you cannot tell which calculation you are reading.
Two things are clear from the counts. Filings grew fast: EB-1A receipts went from 10,481 in FY2022 to 29,582 in FY2025, with 20,496 more in the first three quarters of FY2026. And the queue grew with them: EB-1A petitions pending went from 6,281 on September 30, 2022 to 28,874 on June 30, 2026.
The approval rate stayed between 71.4% and 77.8% from FY2022 through FY2024, slipped to 66.9% in FY2025, and fell to 40.7% in the first three quarters of FY2026, when quarterly denials passed approvals (USCIS data accessed November 3, 2026). What the data does not do is explain why. It has no field for Requests for Evidence, no reasons for denial, and no way to separate a change in what officers require from a change in who is filing while filings nearly tripled.
FY2022 is also not a baseline later years "fell from." It is simply where this series starts in the editions we use, at a much smaller volume than today.
You will not find a Locke Immigration Law approval percentage on this page. That is deliberate.
A firm-published approval rate is a number with no auditor. The firm chooses the denominator: cases it declined to take are not in it, and cases withdrawn, refiled after a denial, or still pending can be counted or not at its discretion. Each of those choices moves the number, and none is visible to you.
It also measures the wrong thing. A firm that accepts only petitions it considers near-certain will report a higher rate than one that takes harder cases and tells clients exactly what they face. And a percentage from someone else's cases tells you nothing about yours. What is useful before you spend money is a read on your own record: which criteria are strong, which are thin, and whether filing now is the right call.
* Based on USCIS data accessed November 3, 2026.
Schedule a consultation with Loren Locke to see if this visa is the right fit.
Schedule a ConsultationThe published data describes an environment. It tells us the EB-1A queue is long and that denials are now a much larger share of decisions than in FY2022. That changes how much we insist on before filing. It tells us nothing about how a specific record will be received.
Before filing we test the record against the regulation and the final merits analysis an officer applies. Where a criterion rests on thin evidence, we say so while there is still time to strengthen it or drop it.
The same USCIS report, read for the national interest waiver.
ReadThe three-of-ten rule and the final merits review.
ReadI-140 timing and premium processing.
ReadWhat to do after a denial, and the 30-day deadline.
ReadSide-by-side comparisons with other paths.
ReadThe three-of-ten rule and all ten regulatory criteria, explained one at a time.
ExploreHow researchers, executives, founders, and other professions build their EB-1A case.
ExploreCountry-specific guidance on building credentials and navigating consular processing.
ExploreReal-world EB-1A situations: career stage, prior denials, dual filings, and more.
ExploreSide-by-side comparisons against O-1, NIW, EB-1B, and other paths.
ExploreDecode the stock phrases USCIS uses in Requests for Evidence — what each means, the governing standard, and the authority behind it.
ExploreAggregate statistics describe conditions. Which of your criteria are strong, which are thin, and whether now is the right time to file are questions only your record answers, and reading that record is what a consultation is for.
Immigration counsel to Fortune 500 employers at a national firm · Adjudicated 12,000+ visas at the U.S. Consulate, Mexico · Working in U.S. immigration since 2008
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