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Work Permit Denials for Green Card Applicants Surge to 44%
Between April and June 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied 35,767 work permit applications from people waiting for green cards. That pushed the denial rate on those applications to about 44%. In the first two quarters of the fiscal year, covering October 2025 to March 2026, the rate was about 25%. For many applicants, the work permit, formally an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), is the only legal way to earn a living while the green card case drags on. How should we interpret this striking number? Here, our EB1A experts have presented a detailed analysis of this surge.
The numbers as they are
USCIS received 153,039 Form I-765 applications under the adjustment-of-status category in the quarter. It approved 46,405 and denied 35,767 (Legit.ng).
The 44% figure needs careful reading. By my own arithmetic, 35,767 denials out of 82,172 decisions comes to 43.5%. That is the share of decisions that were denials, not the share of everyone who filed. Immiva’s analysis of USCIS data defines denial rate the same way and warns that it does not measure all applicants. Only about 82,000 of the roughly 153,000 applications received were decided in the quarter, so the rest remained in the queue or were decided earlier.
A sharp break from history?
Inmigreat’s analysis of official USCIS data found that the I-765 had a 91.1% approval rate on decided cases between 2003 and 2024. For categories where status is still pending, such as asylum and adjustment applicants, approval ran 86% to 87%. On the same arithmetic, approvals made up about 56.5% of adjustment-based decisions last quarter. That is far below the historical norm.
Where the increase is concentrated
Immiva compared USCIS quarterly reports from October-December 2024 (FY2025 Q1) with April-June 2026 (FY2026 Q3). The combined I-765 denial rate rose from 6.6% to 15.5%, and adjustment-based applicants drove most of that increase.
The category for people with a pending I-485 green card application (C09) saw the sharpest change. Its denial rate rose from 6.2% to 52.6%. Approvals fell from 130,069 to 32,249, while denials climbed from 8,526 to 35,720. Pending C09 applications grew from 153,874 to 671,263. A broader grouping that includes the related advance-parole category rose from 5.1% to 43.5%, which matches the headline figure.
Other work-permit categories moved little. H-4 spouse denials rose from 2.6% to 5.0%. J-2 spouse denials were nearly flat at 1.2% and 1.1%. DACA denials fell from 1.3% to 0.6%, and pending-asylum denials from 9.6% to 8.5%. So this is not a blanket crackdown on all work permits. It is concentrated among people waiting on green cards.
A system under strain?
The wider picture is one of a slowing system. Service-wide, USCIS’s denial rate rose from 8.9% to 15.9% over the same period. The agency completed 96.5 cases for every 100 it received at the start of the period, and 72.8 by the end. Total pending cases grew from 9.68 million to 12.81 million, and the net backlog rose from 4.29 million to 7.74 million.
Immiva cautions that a rising rate “can reflect a sharp drop in approvals,” and that is what happened here. Service-wide approvals fell 53%, from 2.78 million to 1.30 million, while denials fell only about 10%, from 273,599 to 245,471. Across all work-permit categories, pending I-765 applications rose from 1.17 million to 2.11 million.
Citizenship and green card filings under pressure
Work permits are not the only category affected. Immiva reports that the combined naturalization (N-400) denial rate rose from 7.8% to 18.2%. For petitions filed by relatives other than spouses, parents and minor children of U.S. citizens, the rate jumped from 28.4% to 52.8%. Reports on the work-permit data also note that citizenship denials climbed, with processing times stretching beyond six months.
The data also arrive amid wider policy changes. In August 2026, Nairametrics reported that authorities introduced stricter financial assessments for certain green card applicants, weighing income, assets, health and reliance on public benefits. Immigration Analytics reported on October 13 that the Department of Homeland Security made the end of automatic work permit extensions permanent, projecting lapses beginning in May 2027.
What the data do not explain
Neither the news reports nor Immiva’s analysis identifies why denials rose. The numbers show what changed, not the reason. I did not find an official USCIS statement explaining the shift. USCIS publishes the underlying quarterly tables, including a Form I-765 report by eligibility category.
Immiva also stresses that the figures describe agency-wide flows. They cannot tell any applicant the probability that their own case will be approved or denied, because completed cases were filed at different times under different circumstances.
What applicants can do
Immiva’s advice is practical rather than dramatic. Use the current form edition and the correct fee, because a lockbox rejection means USCIS never accepted the filing and the applicant loses time before joining the queue. Answer sensitive questions about travel, addresses, arrests and prior filings carefully, because incomplete or inconsistent answers can lead to a request for evidence or a denial months later. Tie each piece of evidence to the requirement it proves. Applicants with an expiring EAD should file their renewal early, since a rejection returns the case to a slower system. Anyone dealing with waivers, removal proceedings or a disputed immigration history should consult an immigration attorney.
At GCEB1, our EB1A consultants are staying tuned to the latest policy changes, updates and insights in the US immigration landscape. Get in touch with us for personalized guidance into the merit based US immigration pathways. We wish you a safe and stress free immigration journey ahead.
Frequently asked questions
1. What happened?
USCIS denied 35,767 work permit applications from green card applicants between April and June 2026, a denial rate of about 44%.
2. What is the work permit?
Form I-765 requests an Employment Authorization Document, which lets eligible foreign nationals work legally in the United States.
3. How does 44% compare with earlier?
It was about 25% in October 2025 to March 2026, per Nairametrics.
4. Does 44% mean 44% of all applicants were denied?
No. It is the share of approval-or-denial decisions that were denials, not of everyone who filed.
5. Are all work permit categories affected?
No. Immiva found the largest jump among pending adjustment-of-status applicants, while H-4, J-2, DACA and asylum categories changed little.
6. Why did the rate rise?
The sources do not say. They show approvals falling much faster than denials.
7. Do I need a work permit while my green card is pending?
Generally yes. Inmigreat notes most people with pending cases need an EAD to work legally.
8. What can I do to avoid problems?
Use the current form and fee, answer questions accurately, include supporting evidence and file renewals early.
9. Does the rate predict my own case?
No. Immiva says the data describe agency-wide results, not individual outcomes.
Sources & further readings
- Immigration Analytics. “DHS Makes the End of Automatic Work Permit Extensions Permanent and Projects Impact Starting in May 2027.” October 13, 2026. https://immigration-analytics.com/2026/10/13/dhs-makes-the-end-of-automatic-work-permit-extensions-permanent-and-projects-lapses-starting-in-may-2027/.
- Immiva. “USCIS Denial Rates by Form: 2025–2026 Data.” September 15, 2026. https://immiva.com/blog/uscis-denial-rates-by-form.
- Inmigreat. “I-765 Report: Work Permit (EAD) Analytics.” Accessed October 14, 2026. https://www.inmigreat.com/en/analytics/i-765/.
- Legit.ng. “US Work Permit Rejections Surge as over 35,000 of Green Card Applicants Are Denied.” Accessed October 14, 2026. https://www.legit.ng/business-economy/industry/1736016-us-work-permit-rejections-surge-35000-green-card-applicants-denied/.
- Nairametrics. “US Denies 35,767 Work Permits to Green Card Applicants as Rejection Rate Rises to 44%.” October 13, 2026. https://nairametrics.com/2026/10/13/us-denies-35767-work-permits-to-green-card-applicants-as-rejection-rate-rises-to-44/.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. “Immigration and Citizenship Data.” Accessed October 14, 2026. https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/immigration-and-citizenship-data.
- YEN.com.gh. “US Denies 35,767 Work Permit Applications from Green Card Applicants in One Quarter.” Accessed October 14, 2026. https://yen.com.gh/people/313753-us-denies-35767-work-permit-applications-green-card-applicants-quarter/.
