Effective today, October 3, 2017, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has resumed premium processing for all H-1B visa extension of stay petitions. Premium processing is now available for all H-1B petitions. Earlier this year, USCIS had suspended premium processing for all cap and cap exempt cases, but resumed premium processing in stages for certain H-1B petitions. Prior to today, USCIS resumed premium processing for H-1B petitions subject to the annual cap, petitions filed on behalf of physicians under the Conrad 30 waiver program, as well as for interested government agency waivers and certain H-1B petitions not subject to the cap.

Premium processing is the expedited processing service for USCIS. When a petitioner requests premium processing and pays the additional fee, USCIS guarantees a fifteen-calendar day response time. If that time is not met, USCIS will refund the petitioner’s premium processing service fee and continue with the expedited processing of the petition. We have posted extensively on the H-1B program for those who want more information about this visa type.