Premium Processing Reinstated for All H-1B Petitions

USCIS has announced that starting March 12, 2019, they will accept requests for premium processing “upgrades” for all H-1B petitions.  This includes upgrades for pending H-1B petitions and premium processing requests as part of new petitions.    USCIS will announce soon whether they will also accept premium processing for “cap” cases.

Background of the H-1B Premium Processing Service Suspension

Effective September 11, 2018 USCIS had suspended premium processing for most H-1B petitions until February 19, 2019.  All H-1B new employment, transfers and amendments filed with the California or Vermont Service Centers were affected.  Only H-1B cap-exempt employer (filed with the California Service Center) and H-1B extensions without change with the same employer (filed with Nebraska Service Center) continue to be eligible for premium processing.

This suspension has caused significant disruption to many H-1B employers and employees, many of whom have had to postpone important plans or actions due to the extremely long H-1B regular processing times.

The rationale behind this temporary suspension of the premium processing option for most H-1B petitions seems to be heavy demand and high number of H-1B filings together with the fact that regular H-1B case processing times have been steadily going up with some H-1B petitions taking more than ten months to review and process.

Would Premium Processing be Available for H-1B Cap Petitions? 

At this time there is no official guidance by USCIS whether they would accept premium processing for H-1B cap petitions to be filed on April 1st.    However, given past years’ practices and given the expected volume of H-1B cap petitions, there is a good likelihood that USCIS will suspend premium processing for H-1B cap cases again, at least initially, to handle the volume of petitions.  We will provide an update on the availability of premium processing for H-1B cap cases on our website and newsletter as soon as we know more.

Conclusion

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