241,326. That was the normal figure: the citizenship applications approved by USCIS field offices in a single quarter of 2025. Between April and June of this year, the same agency approved 57,697. Seventy-six percent fewer. That is not a typo.
The numbers come from USCIS’s own quarterly N-400 performance files — the naturalization application — for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026. And they describe a full stop: for every 100 new applications that arrived that quarter (145,872), the agency decided only 48 (70,539 decisions, approvals plus denials).
The other side of the coin is the line. As of June 30, 742,138 applications were pending, 40% more than a year earlier. Twice as many come in as go out. The median wait for a regular applicant reached 9.5 months; by August, the reported average was already 12.7 months.
The backlog has a ZIP code
The slowdown did not hit evenly. The offices with the most pending cases at the end of June: Houston (31,057), Dallas (28,662), Chicago (23,623), San Jose (20,899) and San Antonio (18,999). Not coincidentally, cities with huge Latino communities.
And some drops look like a different country: the San Jose office decided 408 cases in the quarter, 96% fewer than a year earlier (it had been 9,281). Baltimore and San Francisco fell 93%.
Nor is it only slowness. Of the decisions actually made, about 18% were denials; the approval rate slid from 91.2% to 81.8%. In Los Angeles, the denial rate doubled to more than 18%; in Baltimore it jumped from under 7% to 35%. A National Foundation for American Policy analysis found that between January 2025 and July 2026, monthly approvals fell 78% and the denial rate climbed from 8.4% to 20.1%.
The government brags about it; the agency talks about “vetting”
On October 2, the Department of Homeland Security listed “naturalizations down 75%” in its public tally of administration achievements, alongside deportations and revoked visas. It celebrated it as a victory.
USCIS, for its part, says it is “reinforcing robust screening and vetting” and that “U.S. citizenship is reserved for those who qualify,” in the words of spokesman Zach Kahler.
Behind it lies a technical cause with massive consequences: in late April 2026, USCIS activated the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) fingerprint system and required millions of archived fingerprints to be resubmitted, temporarily halting adjudications. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) estimated that process could lengthen naturalization times by up to 46% nationwide.
And more is on the way: DHS proposed raising the N-400 fee to $1,280 online and $1,330 on paper. It is still a proposal — it requires rulemaking — but it signals the direction.
Eleven days from the election, the vote that won’t happen
Advocacy groups put it bluntly. The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) called the data the lowest approval level in more than six years and spoke of “deliberate delays” in an attempt to deny civil and voting rights. Lucia Martel Dow of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s New Americans Campaign summed it up: “The naturalization cliff that we see in the data, it’s unprecedented.”
The electoral consequence is concrete, if bitter: hundreds of thousands of residents who hoped to debut as citizens voting this November 3 will not. Registration deadlines have already passed in most states. Their first vote will have to wait for the next election — if the process moves at all.
If your application is in the line: what to do today
There are no magic shortcuts, but there are moves that keep your case from stalling further:
1. Check your case online. At my.uscis.gov (Case Status Online) with your receipt number. If your case is past the agency’s published “normal processing time,” you can file an electronic inquiry (e-Request).
2. Keep your address current. If you move, report it with Form AR-11 within 10 days. An interview or oath appointment mailed to an old address is a case lost to administrative neglect.
3. Answer any Request for Evidence (RFE) fast. Deadlines are strict, and not responding is as good as a denial.
4. Keep everything. Copies of every form, every receipt, every letter. If your case drags past what is reasonable, that organized file is what a lawyer needs to help you.
5. Watch for scams. Nobody can “speed up” your case for money outside official channels. Seek accredited legal help: licensed immigration attorneys or recognized legal-aid organizations.
The process is still open and applications keep coming in — 54,492 arrived in August, more than triple the number approved. The door did not close. Only now the line is much longer, and it pays to enter it with your papers in order.
More on Actual USA: 980,000 deportations in 18 months · judge blocks DHS door-to-door visits · 16.3 million already voted early.
Official sources
- USCIS — N-400 quarterly performance files, third quarter of fiscal year 2026 (data compiled by VisaVerge): https://www.visaverge.com/uscis/n400-approvals-fall-76-percent-uscis-field-offices-san-jose/
- USCIS — August 2026 report on the naturalization backlog: https://www.visaverge.com/immigration/uscis-n-400-naturalization-backlog-tops-813000-as-processing-time-reaches-127-months/
- Bloomberg Law — “Citizenship Approvals Plummet a Year Into Trump’s Second Term” (USCIS quarterly data): https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/citizenship-approvals-plummet-a-year-into-trumps-second-term
- National Foundation for American Policy — approvals analysis January 2025–July 2026 (cited in): https://www.visaverge.com/uscis/trump-touts-net-negative-migration-as-naturalizations-down-75-and-287g-agreements/
- National Partnership for New Americans — response to USCIS data (Oct 21, 2026): https://partnershipfornewamericans.org/deliberate-naturalization-processing-delays-stiffle-would-be-eligible-voters-from-midterm-participation-npna-responds/
- Election Law Blog — “72 percent drop in approving new citizens leaves would-be voters in limbo” (Washington Post): https://electionlawblog.org/2026/72-percent-drop-in-approving-new-citizens-leaves-would-be-voters-in-limbo/
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