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At a glance
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that it plans to resume premium processing for Forms I-129 (nonimmigrant visa petitions) and eligible Forms I-140 (immigrant visa petitions) in phases over the next month. On March 20, the agency temporarily suspended premium processing due to the COVID-19 emergency.
USCIS now plans to accept Form I-907 premium processing requests according to the below timeline, but notes that all dates are subject to change. The agency especially notes that the June 15 and June 22 phase-in dates are tentative.
June 1: USCIS begins accepting premium processing requests for all eligible Form I-140 petitions.
June 8: USCIS begins accepting premium processing upgrade requests for the following Form I-129 case types that were filed before June 8:
June 15: USCIS plans on accepting premium processing requests for:
June 22: USCIS plans on resuming premium processing for all other Form I-129 petitions, including:
USCIS will publicly announce any changes to the above timeline.
As a reminder, under the new H-1B registration and filing process, the H-1B filing period lasts until June 30.
Employers will be able to begin submitting premium processing requests for eligible I-140 and I-129 petitions starting June 1, according to the above timelines. Organizations can work with their Fragomen professional to identify cases that may qualify for premium processing in each stage of the phase-in, but should also be prepared for the possibility that USCIS may postpone the start dates of the later phases.
Fragomen is closely monitoring the premium processing service implementation, and will issue updates accordingly.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.