Texas Service Center: I-140 and I-129 times in 2026
Texas Service Center (TSC)
The Texas Service Center (TSC) adjudicates I-140 immigrant petitions, including EB-1A. A receipt number with the SRC prefix usually means TSC is processing it. For EB-1A, I-140 petitions are split between the Texas and Nebraska centers.
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: SRC corresponds to "Texas Service Center (TSC)". This is routing, not status: the prefix tells you nothing about approval or denial.
Check your case status by receipt numberWhich forms Texas Service Center (TSC) processes
By the USCIS chart, 15 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-129 (L) - L visa: intracompany transfers
- 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-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
By member observations, I-140 EB-1A timelines fluctuate noticeably month to month, and premium processing for I-140 speeds up adjudication, not the green-card issuance itself. Check current USCIS data.
This is community-chat experience, not official data. Current timelines are in the USCIS processing times.
What kind of challenge this center issued
Across 158 coded notices from this center, the split between an RFE, a NOID and an outright denial.
- request for evidence (RFE)65% · 102 of 158
- notice of intent to deny (NOID)11% · 17 of 158
- denial25% · 39 of 158
For comparison, the other coded center issued an RFE in 68% of its 95 notices against 65% 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 SRC prefix mean?
- SRC is the Texas Service Center prefix. It shows that TSC is processing your I-140 petition. Check processing times on uscis.gov.
- Is premium processing available for I-140 EB-1A?
- Yes, USCIS offers premium processing for I-140, including EB-1A. It speeds up the petition adjudication; the later steps (consular processing or I-485) proceed on their own timeline. Fee and clock on uscis.gov.
- 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
An RFE is not a denial. Members note that a structured response with additional independent evidence often leads to approval.
A strong petition usually meets more than the required minimum of three criteria, with a margin on each - common advice in chats to reduce RFE risk.
What determines the strength of evidence is not the fact itself but its context: scale, selectivity and independent confirmation. This runs through almost every community case review.
Distilled from public community chats - observations, not legal advice.
From community discussions
«I received recommendation letters from my former managers, who are no longer with the same company. They confirmed in their letters that we had worked together at Company X. The logo on the letterhead, though, represented Company Y, which is their current place of employment.»
community member · from public community chats
«Not a single letter has an addressee and none state that it's for the visa. The law contains no mandatory requirement that this must be stated in the letter. It says: recommendation letter. I can take recommendations for many purposes. The same letter can be used in different ways: post it on a website, show it to the association, put it in my case.»
Irina · from public community chats
«USCIS talks about comparable evidence if direct evidence can't be found. Membership in an association in an adjacent field can count if there are few associations for the specific profession.»
Andrey · 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.