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US denies over 35,000 Green Card applicants’ work permits, rejection rate soars to 44%
USCIS rejected 35,767 employment authorization applications from Green Card applicants between April and June 2026.
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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rejected 35,767 employment authorization applications submitted by foreigners seeking permanent resident status during the period spanning April through June 2026, resulting in a denial rate of approximately 44%.
These statistics encompass the third quarter of the US government's fiscal year 2026, which operates from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, reported Financial Express.
This rate demonstrated a substantial increase from the approximately 25% denial rate observed throughout the initial two quarters, spanning October 2025 to March 2026. This escalation underscores the significant obstacles encountered by foreign nationals attempting to obtain work authorization while their Green Card petitions remain under review.
Deep Dive
USCIS received 153,039 applications submitted via Form I-765 seeking employment authorization within the adjustment of status classification during the specified quarter. Of these submissions, the agency granted approval to 46,405 applicants and issued denials to 35,767 applicants.
Form I-765 serves as the mechanism through which qualified foreign nationals may obtain an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), thereby enabling lawful employment within the US while satisfying all pertinent immigration regulations.
Getting a US work permit is becoming tougher
Applications waiting for Form I-765 approval through the adjustment of status route hit 671,362, with a typical wait time of 6.4 months.
Other immigration pathways saw notable rejection rates during this timeframe.
Form I-129, which handles petitions for temporary foreign workers like those seeking H-1B visas, saw 39,560 denials compared to 143,748 approvals, which works out to roughly a 22% denial rate.
Family-based immigration petitions submitted via Form I-130 experienced 16,661 denials, making up approximately 17% of all decisions made.
At the same time, employment-based immigrant worker petitions filed via Form I-140 experienced 7,069 denials alongside 37,975 approvals, resulting in a denial rate of roughly 16%.
Employment-based Green Card applications submitted through Form I-485 performed more favorably, with a denial rate that remained fairly consistent at 7%.
US citizenship applications seeing higher rejection rates
The figures revealed that naturalisation applications encountered more challenging results during the quarter.
USCIS processed 140,179 citizenship applications via Form N-400, granting approval to 54,974 while rejecting 12,591. The rejection rate increased to roughly 19%, up from 13% in the two fiscal quarters before this one.
The number of naturalisation applications awaiting processing climbed to 727,371, with a typical wait time of 9.5 months for decisions.
These shifts are happening as part of wider transformations in US immigration rules that impact foreign employees, students from abroad, and those seeking permanent resident status.
US taking steps to boost immigration-related expenses
The administration is also working on initiatives that might make it costlier to work through the immigration system.
Starting October 16, 2026, USCIS plans to increase fees for asylum petitions, work permits, and Temporary Protected Status in line with yearly inflation changes.
In a separate proposal, the Department of Homeland Security suggested implementing a $70,000 fee that universities would need to pay when recommending international students for Optional Practical Training (OPT), along with an additional $30,000 charge for extending these programmes.
These proposed fees could increase the overall costs for both universities and international students who are looking to pursue their education and acquire valuable work experience within the US.
