What I learned about USCIS's typical processing time transparency

Spent a while confused about where to find reliable, current processing time information before I found the actual official source and understood how to read it properly, so sharing what I learned for anyone else in that same early confusion. USCIS publishes processing time data by form type and service center, and it's the authoritative source — much more reliable than the anecdotal, sometimes outdated ranges I'd seen scattered across forums before I found the official numbers. The key thing I learned to check specifically: processing times are broken out by the specific service center handling your case, not just an overall average, and can differ meaningfully between centers. What I'd tell someone just starting to track this: check the official published numbers specifically for your form and service center, not a generic overall average, and understand these are historical medians, not guarantees for your specific case — useful for setting realistic expectations, not a precise countdown.