USCIS Ombudsman Listening Session on H-1B Premium Processing Suspension

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Ombudsman Office is organizing a listening session regarding the suspension of premium processing for most H-1B petitions.   The goal of this session is to hear from the public how the H-1B premium processing suspension has affected them.  This is intended to be only a “listening” session, no policy decisions or announcements are expected.    But this is an opportunity for anyone – business, employee, a third-party client – to express their opinion on the subject.

Listening Session

Here’s the announcement, including date, time and how to register:

On November 1, 2018, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EDT, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman will host a listeningsession to hear from the public on the impact of USCIS’ suspension of premium processing on certain Form I-129 H-1B filings.

RSVP link (composes email message).

An alternative to the RSVP link above is to send an email to CISOmbudsman.PublicAffairs@nullhq.dhs.gov with subject line of “RSVP for the CIS Ombudsman’s November Listening Session” and include first name, last name, organization name (if any), and email address.

Conclusion

We encourage all affected parties to join this listening session and provide their input.    We have seen firsthand how the suspension of premium processing has impacted negatively tens, if not hundreds, of our clients.   For example, F-1 OPT students who ran out of cap-gap employment authorization have lost their job,  highly qualified H-1B workers have delayed promotions or better job opportunities, and employers have seen their business affected due to unpredictable timelines and USCIS policies.     Our office will be joining this session and providing our input on the impact of the premium processing suspension.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any help in understanding or dealing with this unanticipated H-1B premium processing disruption of service.    Please feel free to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to obtain developments on this and related topics.