USCIS to Resume Premium Processing for Certain Petitions After Two-Month Suspension

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will resume premium processing via Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, in phases during the month of June. Previously, on March 20, 2020, USCIS announced the temporary suspension of premium processing on all I-129 and I-140 petitions due to COVID-19.

The following petitions will be eligible for premium processing according to the timelines below.

• All eligible I-140 immigrant petitions will be eligible for premium processing beginning on June 1, 2020. Per prior USCIS policy, I-140 immigrant petitions in the EB-1 multinational manager category remain ineligible for premium processing.
• H-1B extensions and cap-exempt H-1B petitions filed before June 8, 2020, will be eligible for premium processing upgrades beginning on June 8. All other eligible I-129 petitions (L-1s, TNs, etc.) filed before June 8 will also be eligible for premium processing upgrades on June 8.
• H-1B extensions and cap-exempt H-1B petitions can be filed with a concurrent filing of Form I-907 to request premium processing beginning on June 15, 2020.
• All other cap-subject and I-129 petitions can be filed with either a request to upgrade to premium or a concurrent request for premium processing at the time of filing beginning on June 22, 2020.

These dates are subject to change and USCIS may announce further changes to these timelines.

Ogletree Deakins’ Immigration Practice Group will continue to monitor developments with respect to the policy changes and will post updates on the Immigration blog and the firm’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center as additional information becomes available. Critical information for employers is also available via the firm’s webinar programs.