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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

USCIS announced it will resume premium processing on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 for all H-1B petitions.

If you had an H-1B petition filed on or before December 21, 2018, premium processing will be available for your H-1B petition. USCIS announced it will resume premium processing on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 for all H-1B petitions filed on or before December 21, 2018.

USCIS announced its resumed premium processing on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, for all fiscal year (FY) 2019 H-1B cap petitions.

USCIS announced its decision to temporarily suspend premium processing for all Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B Cap petitions, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher, starting April 2, 2018. This suspension is expected to last until Sept. 10, 2018.Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed premium processing on October 3^rd, 2017, for all H-1B visa extension of stay petitions. Premium processing is now available for all types of H-1B petitions. Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed premium processing for all H-1B visa petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 cap starting September 18^th, 2017. Read More

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on July 24th, 2017, that it will resume premium processing for certain cap-exempt H-1B petitions effective immediately. The H-1B visa has an annual cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year. Additionally, there is an annual “master’s cap” of 20,000 petitions filed for beneficiaries with a U.S. master’s degree or higher.

Premium processing will resume for petitions that may be exempt from the cap if the H-1B petitioner is:Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that starting Monday, June 26, the agency will resume premium processing for all H-1B petitions filed for medical doctors under the Conrad 30 Waiver program, as well as interested government agency waivers.

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