USCIS Announces Gradual Reinstatement of Premium Processing

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After temporarily suspending its premium processing service on March 20, 2020, USCIS has announced today that it will gradually reinstate premium processing service for certain I-129 and I-140 filings.

Effective June 1, 2020, USCIS will accept premium processing for all I-140 immigrant petitions which are normally eligible for premium processing. The list of qualifying I-140 petitions can be found here.

Effective June 8, 2020, USCIS will accept premium processing for I-129 non-immigrant worker petitions in the following categories:

• H-1B petitions filed before June 8 that are pending adjudication and are cap-exempt, such as:

  • Petitions filed by petitioners that are cap-exempt

  • Petitions filed for beneficiaries previously counted toward the numerical allocations)

• All other (non H-1B) Form I-129 petitions for nonimmigrant classifications eligible for premium processing filed before June 8 that are pending adjudication

Effective June 15, 2020, USCIS intends to resume premium processing for the following filings:

• 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.

Effective June 22, 2020, USCIS intends to resume premium processing for the following filings:

• 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.

USCIS stressed that all of the above dates are subject to change as USCIS continues to take on more premium processing requests and USCIS will announce any changes to these dates accordingly. USCIS is also still continuing to process qualifying petitions accompanying premium processing requests which were received by USCIS prior to the March 20 suspension date.

Questions?

If you have any additional questions about the reinstatement of premium processing services, please contact your Ellis Porter attorney and we will be happy to provide further clarification and assistance.

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