As part of its campaign to expand premium processing service, United Sates Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it will begin to offer premium processing for certain applicants filing Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, to change into F, M, or J Nonimmigrant Status. USCIS will offer premium processing to those seeking to change their status to F, M, or J in phases according to the following schedule:
As of June 13, 2023, USCIS is accepting premium processing requests for currently pending I-539 applications for those seeking to change status to F-1, F-2, M-1, J-1, or J-2 status.
Beginning June 26, 2023, the agency will accept I-907 requests for premium processing requests from applicants filing new I-539 applications to change status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 status.
Read moreUS Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the agency will resume premium processing for all H-1B petitions effective today, Tuesday, March 12. This will be welcome news to many after USICS expanded the premium processing suspension to all H-1B petitions in September 2018. In February 2019, the agency resumed premium processing only for H-1B petitions filed on or before December 21, 2018.
Read moreUS Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that effective Tuesday, February 19, 2019, the agency will resume premium processing for all H-1B petitions filed on or before December 21, 2018. For applicants who received a transfer notice for their pending H-1B petition and plan to request premium processing, they must submit the premium processing request to the service center now handling the petition and include a copy of the transfer notice with the premium processing request. Additionally, for those who have received a Request for Evidence (RFE) for a pending petition, they should also include the RFE response with the premium processing request. For petitions that have been transferred, if applicants send their premium processing request to the wrong center, USCIS will forward it to the correct location; however, the fifteen day premium processing clock will not start until the premium processing request has been received at the correct center. USCIS has published a table to help applicants determine where to send their premium processing request if USCIS transferred their petition.
Read moreUS Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced last week that effective October 1, 2018, the agency is increasing the premium processing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, from the current amount of $1,225 to $1,410, a nearly fifteen percent increase. With this fee increase, which is in accordance to the percentage change in inflation since the fee was last increased in 2010 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers, USCIS claims they can “more effectively adjudicate petitions and maintain effective service to petitioners.”
Read moreUS Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) is extending the previously announced temporary suspension of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions and will also expand the temporary suspension to additional H-1B petitions effective September 11, 2018. USCIS says that they expect these suspensions to last until February 19, 2019, and will provide notice before resuming premium processing for these petitions. During this time when H-1B premium processing is suspended, USCIS will reject any Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, filed with an affected Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. If petitions are submitted with one combined check for the Form I-907 and Form I-129 H-1B, both forms will be rejected.
Read moreUS Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that starting April 2, 2018, the first day that H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 cap cases can be received, USCIS will temporarily suspend premium processing for all cap-subject petitions, including master’s cap exemption cases. This suspension, likely to frustrate many immigration practitioners and petitioners, is expected to last until September 10, 2018. Last year, USCIS temporarily suspended premium processing for all cap and non-cap subject H-1B petitions and resumed it in stages over a six month time period.
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