United States: Premium Processing Upgrades for Pending EB-1 Multinational Manager and EB-2 National Interest Waiver I-140 Petitions to Begin in June and July

This initial expansion of premium processing will occur in two phases:

• Beginning June 1, 2022, USCIS will accept Form I-907 premium processing upgrade requests for pending EB-1 Multinational Manager petitions that were filed on or before January 1, 2021.
• Beginning July 1, 2022, USCIS will accept Form I-907 premium processing upgrade requests for:
  • Pending EB-1 Multinational Manager petitions that were filed on or before March 1, 2021; and
  • Pending EB-2 NIW petitions that were filed on or before June 1, 2021.

USCIS will reject premium processing requests received before the applicable June 1, 2022 or July 1, 2022 start date. At this time, USCIS will not allow petitioners to request premium processing of these cases at the time of petition filing.

The premium processing timeframe for USCIS to take action on EB-1 Multinational Manager and EB-2 NIW cases will be 45 days. However, the revised regulations provide that the processing clock will only begin to run upon the date USCIS receives “all prerequisites for adjudication” – meaning that the agency may not begin to count the 45-day processing timeframe until it determines that it has received all necessary documentation and information from any necessary interviews, biometrics, or background checks, as appropriate for the case type. Depending on the case type and its requirements, this means that petitioners could wait longer than the specified 45-day timeframe to see action on their cases. If a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) is issued, a new 45-day period would begin once USCIS receives the petitioner’s response to the RFE or NOID.  

At time of implementation, the premium processing filing fee for these two categories of cases will be $2,500. USCIS is authorized to adjust premium processing fees on a biannual basis, based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Employers and foreign nationals should begin working with their Fragomen professional to review pending cases in the affected case types for which premium processing is slated to take effect to identify time-sensitive cases that merit consideration for upgrading to premium processing when the case type becomes eligible.

The next phase of premium processing expansion is expected to include Forms I-539 and I-765 for certain F, M and J nonimmigrants.

Fragomen is closely monitoring the implementation of premium processing expansion. Further client alerts will be issued as developments occur.