After suspending the Premium Processing service for all H-1B petitions on April 3, 2017, USCIS has resumed premium processing for certain categories of H-1B petitions.

Yesterday, USCIS announced that it will now accept premium processing requests for H-1B petitions that are subject to the FY 2018 cap, including both regular cap and advanced degree cap cases. This is an especially important development for F-1 students who are in the "cap gap" period of employment authorization, which would otherwise end on September 30, 2017. These individuals may now request premium processing for their H-1B petitions in the hope of having the petition approved before October 1, 2017, to avoid any lapse in employment authorization.

USCIS had previously resumed premium processing for two very limited types of H-1B petitions: those for J-1 physicians requesting a waiver of the two-year home residence requirement through the Conrad 30 program or other interested government agencies and those filed by cap exempt employers or that are cap exempt because the beneficiary is employed at a cap exempt institution.

At this time, premium processing remains suspended for all other H-1B petitions, including extension of stay, change of employer, and amended petitions.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

USCIS has announced that starting April 3, 2017, it will suspend the “premium processing” service for all H-1B petitions.  The suspension could last as long as six months.

The announcement states that this action is necessary so that USCIS can reduce overall processing times for H-1B petitions, which have grown steadily over the past two years and now regularly exceed six months even for routine extensions.

During the premium processing suspension, USCIS will focus on processing long-pending petitions and will prioritize extension petitions for individuals who are nearing the end of the automatic 240-day extension of work authorization following the expiration of their previous petition.

April 3 is also the first day that employers may begin filing fiscal year 2018 H-1B visa petitions for individuals to begin H-1B employment on October 1, 2017. The opening of the H-1B cap is likely a main reason for the premium processing suspension, as USCIS probably expects to receive nearly 250,000 submissions based on last year’s filing volume. Resources that would otherwise have gone toward “premium processing” can now be shifted toward intake and adjudication of H-1B cap filings.

At this time, the “premium processing” suspension affects only H-1B petitions. The “premium processing” service will remain available for all other eligible nonimmigrant visa classifications.
During the suspension period, petitioners may still request an expedite of an H-1B petition. ​USCIS may expedite a​ petition or application if it meets one or more of the following criteria:​

• Severe financial loss to company or ​person​;​
• Emergency situation;​
• Humanitarian reasons;​
• Nonprofit organization whose request is in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States​;​
• Department of Defense or ​​national​ ​interest ​​situation;​
• USCIS error; or​
• Compelling interest of USCIS.​

As always, please contact us with any questions.

USCIS has announced that, as of July 13, 2015, it will resume "premium processing" of H-1B extension petitions.

We previously alerted our readers that USCIS had suspended the "premium processing" service for H-1B extensions on May 26, 2015, so that the agency could efficiently implement the H-4 Work Authorization (EAD) rule.

The premium processing suspension was initially scheduled to last through July 27, 2015. However, USCIS received fewer H-4 Work Authorization applications than expected and has determined that it can effectively handle the current H-4 EAD and premium processing workload.

With this announcement, premium processing requests for H-1B petitions requesting an extension of stay for the H-1B worker may be filed concurrently with any petition filed on or after July 13, 2015.

Additionally, employers who filed H-1B extension petitions during the suspension period may "upgrade" those petitions to premium processing as of July 13, 2015.

As always, please contact us with any questions.