Independent immigration-case analytics site MyCasesHub has logged a sharp 40-percent drop in daily Form I-130 approvals since 1 March 2026, according to crowd-sourced USCIS-API scans published late Sunday on Reddit’s r/I130Suffering forum. The tracker, which parses public case-status updates every night, recorded fewer than 500 family-based immigrant-visa approvals on 15 March, down from a February average of 850. Users report that service centers in Nebraska and Texas show the steepest decline. Although USCIS has not issued any formal notice of a production pause, several immigration attorneys speculate that resources have been temporarily diverted to handle the H-1B cap surge and to implement new fee-rule software. A similar slow-down occurred in April 2025 when USCIS shifted adjudicators to clear an EAD backlog after a lawsuit settlement.
![Data Trackers Flag Sudden Slow-Down in USCIS I-130 Adjudications, Raising Backlog Fears]()
During periods like this, families may find it helpful to leverage private visa-assistance platforms for supplemental guidance. VisaHQ, for example, offers real-time updates on U.S. immigration procedures and step-by-step document checklists, and its team can coordinate courier services and embassy filings worldwide—visit https://www.visahq.com/united-states/ to see how the service can streamline everything from I-130 follow-ups to travel-visa questions.
For global-mobility stakeholders, the timing is worrying: many U.S. multinationals rely on “follow-to-join” I-130 approvals to reunite employee families after an L-1 or EB-1 corporate transfer. Protracted delays can increase assignment drop-out rates and raise duty-of-care concerns. HR should prepare to extend temporary housing budgets and explore school-year bridging options for dependents stuck abroad. Practitioners advise filing service-center inquiries once a case passes posted processing-time medians by 15 days and escalating to congressional liaisons at the 30-day mark. Companies with large caseloads may also consider premium upgrading related EAD or Advance Parole applications to keep relocation timelines on track while I-130s work through the queue. Industry associations are compiling impact data for an expected stakeholder engagement call with USCIS’ Office of Performance and Quality later this week. Applicants are encouraged to monitor the agency’s online case-status portal, but multiple users warn of intermittent outages tied to recent system maintenance.
During periods like this, families may find it helpful to leverage private visa-assistance platforms for supplemental guidance. VisaHQ, for example, offers real-time updates on U.S. immigration procedures and step-by-step document checklists, and its team can coordinate courier services and embassy filings worldwide—visit https://www.visahq.com/united-states/ to see how the service can streamline everything from I-130 follow-ups to travel-visa questions.
For global-mobility stakeholders, the timing is worrying: many U.S. multinationals rely on “follow-to-join” I-130 approvals to reunite employee families after an L-1 or EB-1 corporate transfer. Protracted delays can increase assignment drop-out rates and raise duty-of-care concerns. HR should prepare to extend temporary housing budgets and explore school-year bridging options for dependents stuck abroad. Practitioners advise filing service-center inquiries once a case passes posted processing-time medians by 15 days and escalating to congressional liaisons at the 30-day mark. Companies with large caseloads may also consider premium upgrading related EAD or Advance Parole applications to keep relocation timelines on track while I-130s work through the queue. Industry associations are compiling impact data for an expected stakeholder engagement call with USCIS’ Office of Performance and Quality later this week. Applicants are encouraged to monitor the agency’s online case-status portal, but multiple users warn of intermittent outages tied to recent system maintenance.
