Nebraska Service Center: I-140 and I-129 times in 2026
Nebraska Service Center (NSC)
The Nebraska Service Center (NSC) is the second center adjudicating I-140 petitions for EB-1A. A LIN prefix in the receipt number usually points to NSC. As with TSC, the assignment depends on workload, not on the applicant.
How to read your receipt number
A USCIS receipt number is three letters followed by ten digits. The first three letters - the prefix - identify the processing center: LIN corresponds to "Nebraska Service Center (NSC)". This is routing, not status: the prefix tells you nothing about approval or denial.
Check your case status by receipt numberWhich forms Nebraska Service Center (NSC) processes
By the USCIS chart, 16 of the 22 forms we track go here. For talent visas: I-140, I-485, I-907, I-765, I-131, I-539, I-290B; not here: I-129 (O).
- I-140 - Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (EB-1A, EB-1B, EB-2 NIW)
- I-485 - Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
- I-907 - Request for Premium Processing Service
- I-765 - Application for Employment Authorization
- I-131 - Travel documents: advance parole, reentry permit
- I-539 - Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (including O-3)
- I-290B - Notice of Appeal or Motion
- I-129 (H-1B) - H-1B: change of status in the US
- I-130 - Petition for Alien Relative
- I-751 - Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence
- I-824 - Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition
- I-102 - Replacement/Initial Arrival-Departure Document (I-94)
- I-601A - Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver
- I-360 - Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant
- I-821 - Application for Temporary Protected Status
- I-730 - Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition
Source: the USCIS chart Service Center Forms Processing (agency date Oct 11, 2024, read Oct 11, 2026). USCIS says the split changes with each center's workload and posts moves on its Workload Transfer Updates page.
How long USCIS takes now
USCIS no longer shows these forms center by center: its processing-times tool reports one office, "Service Center Operations (SCOPS)". So the honest answer to "is this center faster" is that the agency does not publish per-center speed for I-129 and I-140. The figure is the time in which 80% of cases were completed (our read of Oct 2, 2026).
| Form and category | 80% of cases within |
|---|---|
| I-129, O visa (O-1) | 14.5 mo |
| I-140, EB-1A | 32.5 mo |
| I-140, EB-1B | 15 mo |
| I-140, EB-2 NIW | 30 mo |
| I-485, employment-based | 42.5 mo |
| I-765 with a pending I-485, (c)(9) | 12.5 mo |
| I-131, advance parole | 26.5 mo |
Premium processing (I-907) does not change this table: it sets a 15 or 45 business-day clock for the petition. Month-by-month history: USCIS processing times; premium: how premium processing works.
What the community reports
Members note that the same profile can go to TSC or NSC, and timelines differ between them. Rely on the current USCIS calculator rather than on individual stories.
This is community-chat experience, not official data. Current timelines are in the USCIS processing times.
What kind of challenge this center issued
Across 95 coded notices from this center, the split between an RFE, a NOID and an outright denial.
- request for evidence (RFE)68% · 65 of 95
- notice of intent to deny (NOID)5% · 5 of 95
- denial26% · 25 of 95
For comparison, the other coded center issued an RFE in 65% of its 158 notices against 68% here - the mix is close enough that which center you land at is a poor predictor of what kind of challenge you get. The raw totals differ mostly because the centers handle different volumes.
Scope: these are petitions that ALREADY drew an RFE, a NOID or a denial, so nothing here is an approval rate and it cannot be turned into one. Only the mix is comparable between centers; the totals reflect volume.
Sources
FAQ
- What does the LIN prefix mean?
- LIN is the Nebraska Service Center prefix for I-140 petitions. It is routing, not a decision status.
- Is NSC stricter than TSC?
- The EB-1A standard is the same at both centers - it is federal regulation. Speed can differ, but the evidence requirements for extraordinary ability are identical.
- Does the receipt prefix affect the decision?
- No. The prefix only shows the processing center. The decision is made by an officer based on your evidence, not on the center.
From community practice
Field chats advise gathering evidence for a specific criterion from the start, rather than bolting it onto the petition at the last moment.
The community reminds that the same piece of evidence cannot be counted under several criteria at once - the officer expects separate evidence for each.
Premium processing speeds up adjudication but does not raise the chance of approval - the community repeats this constantly: evidence quality decides, not speed.
Distilled from public community chats - observations, not legal advice.
From community discussions
«Always put document quality first: gather all your awards, publications, patents, media mentions and strong recommendation letters. Organize them clearly to show your contribution - well-prepared documents genuinely help.»
community member · from public community chats
«You'll gather everything yourself: finding outlets for publications, learning the criteria. Better to build the knowledge and do it yourself - the deeper you go, the clearer it gets.»
community member · from public community chats
«Why use a middleman to pile up your own documents? Gather all your achievements, awards and publications into folders yourself and work with an attorney directly. A middleman just does the same with what you send them.»
community member · from public community chats
Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.
Other centers and prefixes
Reference information, not legal advice and not a USCIS decision. Always verify routing, timelines and fees on uscis.gov.