USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for H-1B Extensions

United States

USCIS announced today that it has reinstated premium processing for H-1B extension petitions – two weeks earlier than anticipated. Beginning today, the agency will accept Form I-907 premium processing requests for any H-1B petition requesting an extension of stay, but any request to premium process an H-1B extension received prior to July 13, 2015 will be rejected.  

The premium processing suspension was put in place on May 19 to allow USCIS to devote resources to the new H-4 employment authorization program, which opened on May 26. The suspension was originally set to end on July 27, but has been lifted early because the agency's H-4 EAD workload was not as onerous as expected.   

What This Means for Employers and Foreign Nationals

Employers who were unable to submit a premium processing request or whose earlier request was rejected for the underlying H-1B extension petition can now upgrade to premium processing by submitting Form I-907 and its required fee.  New H-1B extension petitions with a request for premium processing will also be accepted as of today.  

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.

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