Nearly 250,000 Immigration Cases Remained Unopened at USCIS in FY 2025

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has developed a substantial frontlog of nearly 250,000 immigration cases that remained completely unopened during FY 2025. This represents a dramatic shift from the start of the fiscal year, when the agency had no such backlog, raising serious concerns about processing capacity and administrative efficiency. A frontlog differs from a standard backlog in a critical way: these petitions have not yet been entered into any processing system or reviewed by immigration officers. This means applicants have received no acknowledgment, no receipt notices, and no indication their cases are being handled — leaving them in administrative limbo. For EB-3 applicants and other employment-based immigrants, this development is particularly concerning. Petitions such as I-140 immigrant petitions, labor certification applications, and adjustment of status filings could all be affected, potentially adding months of unaccounted delay on top of existing processing time estimates. The rapid accumulation of unopened cases in such a short timeframe suggests systemic staffing or resource constraints within USCIS.