What 221(g) Slip Colors Mean in 2026: White, Yellow, Pink, Blue and Green

The slip color is the first thing people compare after a 221(g). In 30+ reports that named a color, the 2026 breakdown looks like this:

• White (majority of reports) — the standard 2026 social-media/administrative processing slip. Usually resolves fastest once the email is sent correctly.
• Yellow — additional administrative processing; often no documents requested. Longer, less predictable waits.
• Pink — seen in petition-verification cases (employer/petition questions).
• Blue / Green — rare; typically document requests specific to the case.

Two cautions from the data: the same case type gets different colors at different posts (one Pakistan petition case was called pink in one report and green in another), and color alone predicts less than what was requested. A white slip with a social-media email request behaves very differently from a white slip with “no documents needed — wait for contact”.

Whatever your color: the playbook covers the submission format, and the comparator tells you if your wait is still in the normal band.