USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend Premium Processing for All H-1B Petitions

USCIS has suspended the premium processing service for all H-1B petitions filed on or after April 3, 2017. This suspension is temporary according to USCIS. Premium processing is a program that provides for an expedited 15-day initial review for a $1,225 additional filing fee. USCIS has indicated that this suspension may last as long as six months.

The temporary suspension applies to all H-1B petitions filed on or after April 3, 2017. This includes extension and amendment petitions. Further, since new cap-subject H-1B petitions cannot be filed before April 3, 2017, this suspension will apply to all petitions filed under the fiscal year 2018 H-1B regular and master’s degree caps. The suspension also applies to petitions that may be cap-exempt, such as those filed by universities and other cap-exempt employers.

USCIS will continue to premium process H-1B petitions if the premium processing request was properly filed before April 3, 2017. Other types of petitions eligible for premium processing may continue to utilize the expedited service.

Requesting Expedited Processing

While premium processing is suspended, petitioners may submit a request to expedite an H-1B petition if they meet the criteria on the Expedite Criteria webpage. It is the petitioner’s responsibility to demonstrate that they meet at least one of the expedite criteria, and we encourage petitioners to submit documentary evidence to support their expedite request.

We review all expedite requests on a case-by-case basis and requests are granted at the discretion of the office leadership.

Why We Are Temporarily Suspending Premium Processing for H-1B Petitions

This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be able to:

• Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years; and

• Prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240 day mark.

Find Out More: https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-will-temporarily-suspend-premium-processing-all-h-1b-petitions