Premium Processing Will Be Available in Stages for FY 2020 H-1B Cap Cases; More Public Disclosure of Employer H-1B Data Forthcoming

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At a glance

• Employers filing FY 2020 H-1B cap cases that request a change of status will be able to submit requests for premium processing with their cap filings on April 1. If premium processing request is not submitted concurrently with an H-1B cap change of status petition, the employer will need to wait until May to upgrade to premium service.
• Employers will need to wait until at least June 2019 to request premium processing for all other H-1B cap cases.
• On April 1, USCIS will unveil a new data website that will allow the public to search H-1B petition information by employer.

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How H-1B cap premium processing will be implemented this filing season

USCIS announced today that employers will be able to apply for premium processing in stages for the FY 2020 H-1B cap season, with first priority given to H-1B cap petitions requesting a change of status.

The stages are tentatively scheduled as follows:

• Concurrent filing for H-1B changes of status: Between April 1 and 5, 2019, employers filing H-1B cap changes of status will be able to request premium processing concurrently with their petitions. USCIS will delay the start of the 15-day processing clock for these cases until May 20, 2019 at the latest.
• Upgrades for H-1B changes of status: H-1B change-of-status petitioners who do not request premium processing concurrently with their cap filings will need to wait until May to upgrade their cases to premium processing. USCIS is expected to announce by May 20 the date it will begin to accept these upgrade requests.
• Upgrades for all other H-1B cap filings: Employers filing H-1B cap cases that do not include a request to change status, including all requests for consular processing, will be required to wait until June 2019 at the earliest to upgrade to premium processing. No concurrent requests for premium processing will be accepted with these cases.

Public H-1B data site forthcoming

On April 1, USCIS plans to unveil a new website that will expand the amount of H-1B petitioner data available to the public. The H-1B Data Hub will reportedly allow members of the public to search for H-1B information by company name, fiscal year, NAICS industry code, city, state, or zip code. According to the agency, “This will give the public the ability to calculate approval and denial rates and to review which employers are using the H-1B program.” Currently, USCIS and the Department of Labor make available more limited sets of H-1B data.

What employers should do now

Employers who want to request premium processing for their H-1B cap changes of status should contact their Fragomen team as soon as possible so that these requests can be filed concurrently with petitions between April 1 and April 5.

For all other H-1B cap petitions, employers should work with their Fragomen teams to plan for premium processing upgrades later in the cap season.

Fragomen is closely monitoring FY 2020 H-1B cap policies and procedures, and will issue updates as soon as USCIS announces premium processing upgrade dates.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.