US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that the agency will resume premium processing for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, in phases over the next month. On March 20, USCIS previously announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
For the first phase, effective June 1, 2020, USCIS will accept Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for all eligible Form I-140 petitions. Next, effective June 8, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for:
H-1B petitions filed before June 8 that are pending adjudication and are cap-exempt (which, for example, would include petitions filed by petitioners that are cap-exempt and petitions filed for beneficiaries previously counted toward the numerical allocations); and
All other Form I-129 petitions (i.e., non H-1B petitions like O-1, L-1, P-1, etc.) for nonimmigrant classifications eligible for premium processing filed before June 8 that are pending adjudication.
Next, effective June 15, USCIS plans on resuming premium processing for H-1B petitions requesting premium processing by filing an I-907 concurrently with their I-129 (or request for a petition filed on or after June 8) and are exempt from the cap because:
The employer is cap-exempt or because the beneficiary will be employed at a qualifying cap-exempt institution, entity or organization (including institution of higher education, a nonprofit research organization, or a governmental research organization); or
The beneficiary is cap-exempt based on a Conrad/IGA waiver under INA section 214(l).
Last, effective June 22, USCIS plans on resuming premium processing for all other Form I-129 petitions, including:
All H-1B cap-subject petitions (including those for fiscal year 2021), including change of status from F-1 nonimmigrant status, for both premium processing upgrades and concurrently filed I-907s; and
All other Form I-129 petitions for nonimmigrant classifications eligible for premium processing and those I-129 petitions requesting premium processing by concurrently filing an I-907.
USCIS notes that the agency continues to process any petition with a previously accepted Form I-907, in accordance with the premium processing service criteria, and that petitioners who filed a Form I-129 or a Form I-140 using the premium processing service before the March 20 suspension, but “received no action and a refund, may refile their Form I-907 consistent with the timeline above, barring any changes USCIS may announce in the future.” All the above dates and phases are “subject to change” as the agency begins to accept premium processing requests. The agency will announce any changes accordingly.