US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced effective March 20, 2020, the immediate and temporary suspension of premium processing service for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions until further notice due to coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). USCIS will process any petition with a previously accepted Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, in accordance with the premium processing service criteria. The agency notes, however, that they will not be able to send notices using pre-paid envelopes and instead only send batch-printed notices. Petitioners who have already filed a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, or Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, using the premium processing service and who do not receive any response on their case within the fifteen-day-calendar period will receive a refund, consistent with 8 CFR 103.7(e). USCIS will notify the public when premium processing returns.

USCIS will reject the I-907 and return the $1,440 filing fee for all petitions requesting premium processing that were mailed before March 20 but not yet accepted. The temporary suspension of premium processing includes petitions filed for the following categories:

I-129: E-1, E-2, H-1B, H-2B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, R-1, TN-1 and TN-2; and
I-140: EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3.

This suspension includes new premium processing requests for all H-1B petitions, including H-1B cap-subject petitions for fiscal year 2021, petitions from previous fiscal years, and all H-1B cap exempt petitions. A temporary suspension of premium processing for H-1B FY 2021 cap cases was previously enacted, and this announcement expands upon and supersedes it. USCIS.gov publishes current Form I-129 and I-140 regular processing times on their website.