The code is the queue
Nothing about an I-765 makes sense until you read the category code — the letter-and-number in parentheses on your receipt, like (c)(9). Each code is its own queue with its own volume and its own published window: an H-4 spouse's card and an asylum applicant's card share a form number and nothing else. The table shows every category USCIS currently publishes, translated out of regulatory shorthand.
| Category | Office / queue | Published 80% window | vs previous release | Inquire after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (c)(10) · NACARA / suspension of deportation | National Benefits Center | 10–24 mo | +1 mo | October 22, 2024 |
| (c)(11) · Parole | National Benefits Center | 13.5–18 mo | no change | April 24, 2025 |
| (c)(18) · Final order of deportation (OSUP) | National Benefits Center | 16.5–18.5 mo | +1 mo | April 11, 2025 |
| (c)(9) · Pending I-485 adjustment | National Benefits Center | 12–16.5 mo | +1.5 mo | June 11, 2025 |
| All other categories | National Benefits Center | 10.5–14.5 mo | +1.5 mo | July 31, 2025 |
| (c)(26) · H-4 spouse (filed with I-539) | Service Centers | 6.5–10 mo | no change | December 22, 2025 |
| (a)(18) · L-2 spouse | Service Centers | 18–28 mo | no change | June 18, 2024 |
| (a)(3) · Refugee | Service Centers | 18.5–21.5 mo | -1 mo | December 31, 2024 |
| (a)(5) · Asylum granted | Service Centers | 2.5–17 mo | no change | May 25, 2025 |
| (c)(26) · H-4 spouse of H-1B | Service Centers | 17.5–19 mo | +0.5 mo | March 18, 2025 |
| (c)(3) · F-1 student | Service Centers | 5–6.5 mo | +0.5 mo | April 10, 2026 |
| (c)(33) · DACA Consistent with the July 16, 2021 order from the Southern District of Texas that prohibits DHS from granting initial DACA requests, USCIS has suspended calculations of processing times for initial DACA requests. https://www.uscis.gov/DACADecisionStateofTexas | Service Centers | Not published | — | — |
| (c)(8) · Asylum pending — renewal USCIS posts 1 processing time for any service center location that processes requests for an Employment Authorization Document based on a pending asylum application. We keep these requests in an electronic system that allows us generally to process adjudication-ready cases in the order USCIS receives them, regardless of where the case is pending or where the adjudicator is. | Service Centers | 18.5–21.5 mo | +2.5 mo | January 04, 2025 |
| (c)(8) · Asylum pending — initial USCIS posts 1 processing time for any service center location that processes requests for an initial Employment Authorization Document based on a pending asylum application. We keep these requests in an electronic system that allows us generally to process adjudication-ready cases in the order USCIS receives them, regardless of where the case is pending or where the adjudicator is. | Service Centers | 1–4 mo | no change | September 18, 2026 |
| (c)(9) · Pending I-485 adjustment | Service Centers | 12.5–16 mo | +0.5 mo | June 22, 2025 |
| (c)(19) · TPS El Salvador | Service Centers | 18.5–19.5 mo | +1 mo | March 13, 2025 |
| All other categories | Service Centers | 16–19 mo | +0.5 mo | March 17, 2025 |
The (c)(9) card: the adjustment applicant's lifeline
For most readers of this site the code is (c)(9) — the work permit filed alongside an I-485. Paired with the I-131 travel document, it is what makes a months-long green card wait survivable: a job, a driver's license, a normal life. Renewals ride the same queue, which is why the renewal calendar matters: file up to 180 days before expiry and a timely renewal extends the old card while the new one processes. Do the arithmetic against the current range and it is obvious why the 180-day mark exists.
Timing a renewal with real numbers
Take your category's published window, add a margin for mail and production, and count backwards from your card's expiration. If the sum lands past your expiry date, you are planning an employment gap — file at the earliest legal moment instead. The wait estimator does this arithmetic for your receipt date, and the service centers page explains why the same code can show both a National Benefits Center and a Service Centers row.