May 29, 2020
Dear Valued Clients:
On May 29, 2020 U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it will resume premium processing for Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Workers, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien workers, in phases over the next month:
- Effective June 1, 2020
- USCIS will accept Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, for all eligible Form I-140, Immigrant Petitions for Alien Workers applications.
- Effective June 8, 2020 – USCIS will accept premium processing requests for:
- H-1B Petitions, filed before June 8, 2020, pending adjudication AND are cap-exempt (e.g. petitions filed by petitioners that are cap-exempt and petitions filed for beneficiaries previously counted toward the numerical allocations).
- All other I-129, Petitions for Nonimmigrant Workers, (non H-1B, filed before June 8, 2020 that are pending adjudication.
- Effective June 15, 2020 – USCIS will resume premium processing for:
- H-1B petitions filing I-907 concurrently with their I-129 (or request for a petition filed on or after June 8) AND are cap-exempt because:
- The employer is cap-exempt or the beneficiary will be employed at a qualifying cap-exempt institution, entity or organization (i.e. institution of higher education, nonprofit research organization, governmental research organization); or
- The beneficiary is cap-exempt based on a Conrad/IGA waiver under INA section 214(l).
- Effective June 22, 2020 – USCIS will resume 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 those filed concurrently with I-907.
- All other Form I-129 petitions for nonimmigrant classifications eligible for premium processing and requesting premium processing by filing I-907 concurrently with their I-129.
- I-129 and I-140 Petitions filed before the March 20, 2020 premium processing suspension:
- USCIS will continue to process any petition with a previously accepted Form I-907.
- Petitioners who already filed Form I-129 or I-140 using the premium processing service before March 20, 2020, but received no action and refund, may re-file their I-907 according to the above timeline.
- Please contact Meyer Law Group if you have any questions or concerns regarding the aforementioned premium processing timelines.