USCIS to Resume Premium Processing in Phases for I-129 and I-140 Petitions

02Jun
2020

USCIS to Resume Premium Processing in Phases for I-129 and I-140 Petitions

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it will resume premium processing for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, in the following phases over the next month:

June 1, 2020 – USCIS will accept Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service for all eligible Form I-140 petitions.

June 8, 2020 – USCIS will accept premium processing requests for:

• H-1B petitions filed before June 8 that are pending adjudication and are cap-exempt (for example, petitions filed by petitioners that are cap-exempt and petitions filed for beneficiaries previously counted toward the numerical allocations).
• All other Form I-129 petitions (non H-1B petitions) for nonimmigrant classifications eligible for premium processing filed before June 8 that are pending adjudication.

June 15, 2020 – USCIS plans on resuming premium processing for:

• H-1B petitions requesting premium processing by filing an I-907 concurrently with their I-129 (or request for a petition filed on or after June 8) and are exempt from the cap because:
  • The employer is cap-exempt or because the beneficiary will be employed at a qualifying cap-exempt institution, entity or organization (such as an institution of higher education, a nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization); or
  • The beneficiary is cap-exempt based on a Conrad/IGA waiver under INA section 214(l).

June 22, 2020 – USCIS plans on resuming premium processing for all other Form I-129 petitions, including:

• All H-1B cap-subject petitions (including those for fiscal year 2021), including change of status from F-1 nonimmigrant status, for both premium processing upgrades and concurrently filed I-907s.
• All other Form I-129 petitions for nonimmigrant classifications eligible for premium processing and requesting premium processing by filing an I-907 concurrently with their I-129.

If you choose to request the premium processing service, USCIS will guarantee a 15-day processing time. If USCIS does not take certain adjudicative actions within the 15‑calendar day processing time, USCIS will refund the premium processing service fee and will continue with the expedited processing of the petition.

If you have any questions regarding the premium processing service, please feel free to contact our firm.

Updated 06/02/2020