U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced this week that it 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 month of June. Hence Employers have to make immediate decisions if they have H-1B quota cases to file in premium processing. Moreover,, Employers must determine whether it makes sense for them to upgrade cases to premium depending on the priority of the pending cases and the need for immediate decisions.
EffectiveJune 1, 2020, USCIS will acceptForm I-907, Request for Premium Processing ServiceforalleligibleForm I-140 petitions.
- H-1B petitionsfiledbeforeJune 8 thatare pending adjudicationand are cap-exempt(for example,petitions filed by petitioners that are cap-exempt and petitions filed for beneficiaries previously counted toward the numerical allocations).
- All other Form I-129 petitions(non-H-1B petitions)for nonimmigrant classificationseligible for premium processingfiledbefore June 8that are pending adjudication.
- H-1B petitionsrequesting premium processingbyfiling an I-907concurrently with their I-129(or request for a petition filed on or after June 8)and areexempt from the capbecause:
- The employer is cap-exempt”¯or because the beneficiarywill be employed at a qualifying cap-exempt institution, entity or organization (such as an 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).
- AllH-1B cap-subject petitions(includingthose for the fiscal year 2021), including change of status from F-1 nonimmigrant status, for bothpremium processingupgrades and concurrently filed I-907s.
- All other Form I-129 petitionsfor nonimmigrant classificationseligible for premium processingand requesting premium processingbyfiling an I-907 concurrently with their I-129.
Either way, this news is welcome news to all nonimmigrants as this enables them to have the opportunity to ascertain their legal status quicker than later which in turn helps them make important life decisions.
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