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United States · Wait Anxiety Index

How stressful are United States government waits right now?

The current United States reading is 51 out of 100 (Elevated). Something in this queue is harder than usual: wider outcomes, recent rule changes, or seasonal deadline collisions. The score averages the tracked services below, each scored from dated official sources across five stress factors: expectation gap, uncertainty, trajectory, opacity, and deadline pressure.

Editorial index from official public sources, last checked 25 July 2026. This is not a live feed and not a measure of any individual person's feelings.

51Elevated
Calm 0-19Manageable 20-39Elevated 40-59High 60-74Severe 75-100

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United States index history

QueueCheck has recorded this index daily since 25 July 2026. The line moves only when an official source or an editorial score behind the index changes, so a flat stretch means the queue picture held steady.

02040607525 July 2026: 51/10026 July 2026: 51/10027 July 2026: 51/10028 July 2026: 51/10029 July 2026: 51/10031 July 2026: 51/1001 August 2026: 51/1002 August 2026: 51/1003 August 2026: 51/1004 August 2026: 51/1005 August 2026: 51/1006 August 2026: 51/1008 August 2026: 51/1009 August 2026: 51/10010 August 2026: 51/10011 August 2026: 51/10012 August 2026: 51/10013 August 2026: 51/10014 August 2026: 51/10016 August 2026: 51/10017 August 2026: 51/10018 August 2026: 51/10019 August 2026: 51/10020 August 2026: 51/10021 August 2026: 51/10022 August 2026: 51/10023 August 2026: 51/10024 August 2026: 51/10025 August 2026: 51/10026 August 2026: 51/10027 August 2026: 51/10028 August 2026: 51/10029 August 2026: 51/10030 August 2026: 51/1001 September 2026: 51/1002 September 2026: 51/1003 September 2026: 51/1004 September 2026: 51/1005 September 2026: 51/1006 September 2026: 51/10025 Jul6 Sept
Now
51/100 · Elevated
One week ago
51/100 · Elevated
One month ago
51/100 · Elevated

Service-by-service anxiety scores for United States

Higher scores mean the queue carries more planning risk right now, not that an individual application will go badly. Each card links to the full service page with official waits, reader-shared timelines, and a place to add your own dates.

79Severe

The July 2026 Visa Bulletin made EB-2 India unavailable for the rest of the fiscal year and warned that other categories can retrogress before October.

Expectation gap
85
Uncertainty
90
Trajectory
85
Opacity
40
Deadline pressure
75

How does this wait feel to you?

One anonymous tap. Reader mood for this service unlocks after you vote.

Last checked 23 July 2026.

Most waiting lists are closed, openings are short lottery windows, agencies rarely publish an estimate for the years-long wait after selection, and CBPP research estimates only about one in four eligible households ever receives federal rental assistance.

Expectation gap
90
Uncertainty
85
Trajectory
50
Opacity
75
Deadline pressure
45

How does this wait feel to you?

One anonymous tap. Reader mood for this service unlocks after you vote.

Last checked 23 July 2026.

H-1B visa lottery

High · 61/100
61High

USCIS announced on July 17, 2026 that the FY2027 regular cap and master's cap were both reached, so unselected registrants now face a full-year wait with no in-year fallback.

Expectation gap
55
Uncertainty
75
Trajectory
60
Opacity
45
Deadline pressure
70

How does this wait feel to you?

One anonymous tap. Reader mood for this service unlocks after you vote.

Last checked 23 July 2026.

US F-1 student visa

Elevated · 59/100
59Elevated

Fall-start students face interview scheduling pressure while the fixed period of admission rule published July 17, 2026 is scheduled to take effect on September 15.

Expectation gap
50
Uncertainty
65
Trajectory
60
Opacity
50
Deadline pressure
80

How does this wait feel to you?

One anonymous tap. Reader mood for this service unlocks after you vote.

Last checked 23 July 2026.

Global Entry

Elevated · 45/100
45Elevated

Conditional approval can arrive quickly while the interview step controls the real end date, and interview availability varies by enrollment center.

Expectation gap
50
Uncertainty
60
Trajectory
40
Opacity
35
Deadline pressure
20

How does this wait feel to you?

One anonymous tap. Reader mood for this service unlocks after you vote.

Last checked 23 July 2026.

USCIS N-400

Elevated · 41/100
41Elevated

Naturalization timing varies widely by field office, so two applicants who filed the same week can be months apart through interview and oath scheduling.

Expectation gap
45
Uncertainty
55
Trajectory
35
Opacity
30
Deadline pressure
25

How does this wait feel to you?

One anonymous tap. Reader mood for this service unlocks after you vote.

Last checked 23 July 2026.

IRS tax refund

Manageable · 33/100
33Manageable

The IRS says most e-filed refunds arrive within 21 days and the Where's My Refund tool updates daily, so the stress concentrates in paper returns, amended returns, and returns pulled for review, where the wait stretches from weeks to months.

Expectation gap
30
Uncertainty
45
Trajectory
25
Opacity
25
Deadline pressure
35

How does this wait feel to you?

One anonymous tap. Reader mood for this service unlocks after you vote.

Last checked 25 July 2026.

US passport routine

Calm · 18/100
18Calm

Routine U.S. passport processing has held steady at the officially posted range, so most applicants can plan around it with a normal buffer.

Expectation gap
20
Uncertainty
25
Trajectory
15
Opacity
10
Deadline pressure
15

How does this wait feel to you?

One anonymous tap. Reader mood for this service unlocks after you vote.

Last checked 23 July 2026.

How the United States index is calculated

Each service is scored 0 to 100 on five factors, then combined with fixed weights. Every factor is scored against the service's own official baseline, so a passport queue and a multi-year visa queue are judged against what is normal for that service, not against each other.

FactorWeightWhat it captures
Expectation gap30%How far real outcomes and current official figures sit from what an applicant would reasonably plan for.
Uncertainty25%How widely outcomes vary between applicants in the same queue, and how hard the final date is to predict.
Trajectory20%Whether recent official updates have made this wait better, worse, or left it unchanged.
Opacity15%How much the official source explains: stale pages, unexplained holds, and silent stages score higher.
Deadline pressure10%Whether the typical wait now collides with hard dates such as semester starts, travel seasons, or permit expiries.

Wait Anxiety Index questions, answered

What does the Wait Anxiety Index measure?

It scores the objective stressors of a wait from official sources: how far outcomes sit from expectations, how unpredictable the queue is, whether recent official updates made it better or worse, how much the official source explains, and whether the wait collides with hard deadlines. It does not measure or diagnose anyone's feelings.

Is this a live feed?

No. Scores come from editorial review of dated official sources and are recomputed when those sources change. Every score shows when it was last checked. Reader mood votes are collected live, but they are shown separately and only above a minimum sample size.

Should I change my application plans because of a score?

Use the score to decide what to double-check, not what to do. A high score means the queue carries planning risk right now, so verify the linked official source before paying fees or booking travel. The index is public information, not legal or immigration advice.

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