O-1 and EB-1A approval rates: USCIS data 2024-2026

USCIS data: O-1 approvals month by month (91% in FY2026), EB-1 and NIW approvals and denials by year, the RFE share, what the numbers mean for your petition.

Key answer

By USCIS's own reports, O-1 petitions were approved in 91% of decisions in fiscal year 2026 (October 2025 to June 2026) against 94-95% two years earlier, while the share of decisions with an RFE rose from 19% to 24%. For EB-1 as a whole (EB-1A, EB-1B, EB-1C), 84.5% of the decided petitions filed in FY2024 and 74.8% of those filed in FY2025 were approved; for FY2026 the share is 68.3% so far, with 17,870 petitions still waiting for a decision. USCIS publishes no separate denial rate for EB-1A (data as of July 2026, read Nov 4, 2026).

Where the numbers come from

Two public USCIS files from the Immigration and Citizenship Data page, read Nov 4, 2026, data as of July 2026. The first is the quarterly Form I-129 report broken down by month: received, approved, denied, decisions with an RFE and approved after an RFE; classification O is one line in it, O-1 together with O-2. The second lists I-140 petitions by fiscal year of filing and status on the query date: filed, approved, denied and pending for EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3, with approvals also by class (E11, E12, E13, E21, NIW).

The arithmetic: O-1 approval share = approved / decisions in the period; RFE share = decisions with an RFE / decisions. For the I-140, approval share = approved / (approved + denied) among petitions filed in one year; pending cases are not in the denominator. The same formulas stand behind the figures on the O-1 and EB-1A pages; the tables below read the same files and update with them.

O-1: approval and RFE shares by year

The USCIS fiscal year runs from October to September. The last year in the file is incomplete, so the number of months is given in brackets.

Fiscal year	Approved	Decisions with an RFE
2024 (12 months)	94.5%	19.0%
2025 (12 months)	93.9%	19.7%
2026 (9 months)	91.0%	24.2%

Filed in those years: 29,672, 33,808 and 25,722 petitions. More filings with more RFEs is the signature of 2026: the volume grew and officers ask for additional evidence more often. The month-by-month picture for the last year follows.

O-1 month by month: filed, approved, RFEs

Fiscal year 2026 through June 2026: 25,722 filed, 91% approved, 24% of decisions with an RFE.

USCIS reports the whole O classification in one line, O-1 and O-2 support staff together, initial decisions only. "Approved" is the share of the month's decisions; "with an RFE" is the share of the month's decisions that had a request for evidence on the way.

Month	Filed	Approved	With an RFE
Jul 2025	3,249	2,575 (93%)	21%
Aug 2025	2,872	2,473 (94%)	23%
Sep 2025	2,965	2,505 (92%)	24%
Oct 2025	2,843	2,506 (92%)	25%
Nov 2025	2,397	1,863 (91%)	26%
Dec 2025	2,774	2,067 (90%)	27%
Jan 2026	2,318	2,260 (91%)	24%
Feb 2026	2,940	2,076 (91%)	24%
Mar 2026	3,180	2,579 (91%)	24%
Apr 2026	2,893	2,661 (92%)	23%
May 2026	3,117	2,632 (92%)	23%
Jun 2026	3,260	2,677 (90%)	24%

Latest month, June 2026: 3,260 filed, 2,677 approved, 308 denied, 8,925 pending at month end.

Source: USCIS, Form I-129 by classification, month and case status (xlsx), data as of July 2026, read Nov 4, 2026. Listed on Immigration and Citizenship Data.

EB-1: filed, approved, denied by year of filing

Here USCIS counts differently: not by the month of the decision but by the year the petition was filed, showing its status on the query date. The approval share among decided EB-1 petitions (all three classes together): filed in FY2023 - 85.3%, in FY2024 - 84.5%, in FY2025 - 74.8%, in FY2026 (quarters 1-3) - 68.3%. Pending on the query date: 1,232, 6,360, 14,837 and 17,870 petitions respectively.

Approvals for class E11 (EB-1A) are the only figure in the file for this category alone; denials and filings are given for EB-1 as a whole.

EB-1A approvals by year of filing (USCIS, 2014-2026)

USCIS counts here by the fiscal year the petition was FILED and shows its status on the query date (July 2026). The last two years are still growing: many of those petitions have no decision yet; 2026 covers quarters 1-3 only. Approvals are the only per-class number in this file; filed and denied counts exist for the whole EB-1: EB-1A, EB-1B and EB-1C.

20144,964
20155,922
20167,205
20178,447
20187,152
20194,644
20204,186
20215,375
20227,223
202310,450
202411,254
202510,797
2026*3,674

Year filed	EB-1A approved	EB-1 filed	EB-1 denied
2023	10,450 (34% of EB-1)	37,513	5,348
2024	11,254 (38% of EB-1)	41,529	5,464
2025	10,797 (39% of EB-1)	51,391	9,199
2026*	3,674 (30% of EB-1)	35,658	5,640

* 2026 covers quarters 1-3 only. Source: USCIS, Form I-140 petitions received and current status by fiscal year and class (xlsx), data as of July 2026, read Nov 4, 2026. Listed on Immigration and Citizenship Data.

EB-2 NIW: approvals by year of filing

The NIW picture is built the same way: approvals by class, filings and denials for all of EB-2 together with PERM. The near-halving of approvals in the 2025 cohort is mostly unfinished cases rather than denials: 40,571 EB-2 petitions filed in FY2025 were still pending.

EB-2 NIW approvals by year of filing (USCIS, 2014-2026)

20144,720
20155,487
20165,917
20176,946
20187,080
201910,134
202011,931
202111,772
202217,348
202329,009
202428,577
202513,429
2026*4,050

Year filed	EB-2 NIW approved	EB-2 filed	EB-2 denied
2023	29,009 (36% of EB-2)	93,173	10,343
2024	28,577 (37% of EB-2)	114,071	17,255
2025	13,429 (22% of EB-2)	116,184	13,549
2026*	4,050 (11% of EB-2)	77,743	2,949

Why 2025 and 2026 look worse

The first reason is technical. The FY2026 petitions were filed months ago and 17,870 of them have no decision yet; the approval share among decided cases will keep moving until the cohort closes. For 2024, 6,360 cases remain pending and for 2023 only 1,232, so those percentages will barely shift.

The second reason is real. Filings grew: 37,513 EB-1 petitions in FY2023, 41,529 in 2024, 51,391 in 2025. Denials grew as well: 5,464 for the 2024 cohort against 9,199 for the 2025 cohort, although the second cohort is not fully decided. O-1 shows the same pattern: the share of decisions with an RFE climbed from 19.0% to 24.2%.

An RFE is not a denial

An RFE means the officer lacked evidence on a specific point, not that the case is lost. The O-1 file has a separate column, "approved after an RFE": among decisions with an RFE, 67% were approvals in fiscal year 2026 and 72% in 2024. The I-140 file has no such column. What EB-1A RFEs ask for and how people answer them: why an RFE comes, responding to an RFE and the database of officers' wording.

What these statistics do not tell you

There are no EB-1A denials in them. The EB-1 denominator also holds EB-1C (multinational managers), whose denial pattern is its own.
The O line is O-1 together with O-2 (support staff), initial decisions only: reopenings and appeals are not counted.
The AAO decisions database on this site holds only challenged cases that already had an RFE, NOID or denial. Its "accepted / not accepted" shares by criterion show where weak petitions stumble, not an approval rate.
A percentage knows nothing about your case. The officer decides on the evidence in the envelope, and two petitions with the same resume get different decisions depending on how they are assembled.

What raises your own odds

The overall percentage is out of your hands; the contents of the petition are not. The useful question is not "91%?" but which criteria are refused most often and why: the ten EB-1A criteria with the refusal grounds for each, the readiness check against your profile, and the visa fit tool if you are still choosing between O-1, EB-1A and NIW. How the petition fits into the road from O-1 to a green card is in a separate guide.

Takeaways

O-1 petitions are approved in 91% of FY2026 decisions (94-95% in 2024-2025); the share of decisions with an RFE rose from 19% to 24%.
For EB-1 as a whole, 84.5% of decided petitions filed in FY2024 and 74.8% filed in FY2025 were approved; the FY2026 figure (68.3%) will rise: 17,870 cases are pending.
USCIS publishes no EB-1A-only rate: just 11,254 approvals for the 2024 cohort and 10,797 for 2025.
An RFE is not a verdict: about two thirds of O-1 decisions with an RFE end in approval.
Premium processing changes the timing, not the outcome.

Frequently asked questions

What is the O-1 approval rate in 2026?

In the USCIS Form I-129 report (classification O), 91% of decisions from October 2025 to June 2026 were approvals; fiscal year 2024 had 94.5% and 2025 had 93.9%. Over the same period the share of decisions with an RFE rose from 19% to 24% (data as of July 2026, read Nov 4, 2026).

What is the EB-1A approval rate?

For EB-1A alone USCIS publishes approvals only (E11: 11,254 petitions filed in FY2024 and 10,797 filed in FY2025); denials are published for all of EB-1. Among decided EB-1 petitions filed in FY2024, 84.5% were approved, among those filed in FY2025 74.8%; for FY2026 the share is 68.3% so far with 17,870 cases still pending.

Is an RFE almost a denial?

No. For O-1, among decisions that had an RFE on the way, 67% were approvals in fiscal year 2026 and 72% in 2024. An RFE means the officer lacked evidence on a specific point, and the response ends in approval more often than in denial.

Why do the odds look lower in 2025 and 2026?

Two reasons. The cohorts are not closed: the approval share is computed over decided cases only and rises as the rest close. And denials really did grow on record filings: 51,391 EB-1 petitions were filed in FY2025 against 37,513 in FY2023, and the 2025 cohort already has 9,199 denials against 5,464 for the 2024 cohort.

Does premium processing improve the odds?

No. On Form I-907 USCIS commits to act within 15 or 45 business days or refund the fee; that is a commitment on timing, not on the outcome. USCIS does not publish a separate approval share for premium cases.

O-1 visa: requirements and statistics

EB-1A: criteria and approvals by year

EB-2 NIW: requirements

AAO decision statistics

From O-1 to a green card: paths and timeline

Why an RFE comes

This is not legal advice

This material is general information. The figures are official USCIS statistics read on Nov 4, 2026; they describe the flow of petitions, not your case. This is not legal advice and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify on uscis.gov and with a qualified professional before filing.

Did this answer help?

Related materials - Choose your route

All articles in «Choose your route»

From community discussions

«If you're the founder yourself and there's basically nobody else in the company, you need to at least set up a board of directors that has the authority to hire or fire you, that is, so your employer is distinct from you.»
Eugene · from public community chats
«That's what I did. My cofounder is my nephew and of course he couldn't care less what I do. You can be/live anywhere and register a company here. And yes, that's the whole catch, your cofounder has to have the ability to fire you, otherwise your position is sort of not genuinely an employee one.»
community member · from public community chats
«You need a petitioner. That's not you) Either it's a cofounder with more than a 50% stake in the company, or any other person from your field with US citizenship, if you have letters from employers.»
Ekaterina · from public community chats

Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.

Open database - you can improve it

Found something off, or know what to add? Select text and hit "Suggest an edit", or propose an article/topic below.