USCIS suspends premium processing for some H-1B petitions

Starting April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2019 cap.

It will temporarily suspend premium processing for all fiscal year 2019 cap-subject petitions, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher.

This suspension is expected to last until Sept. 10, 2018.

During this time, USCIS will continue to accept premium processing requests for H-1B petitions that are not subject to the fiscal year 2019 cap.

“We will notify the public before resuming premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions or making any other premium processing updates,” USCIS said in a statement yesterday. 

During this temporary suspension, USCIS will reject any Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, filed with a fiscal year 2019 cap-subject H-1B petition.

If a petitioner submits one combined check for the fees for Form I-907 and Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, both forms will be rejected.
“When we resume premium processing, petitioners may file a Form I-907 for FY 2019 cap-subject H-1B petitions that remain pending,” the statement said.

Expedited processing
While premium processing is suspended, a petitioner may submit a request to expedite a fiscal year 2019 cap-subject H-1B petition if it meets the criteria on the Expedite Criteria webpage.
It is the petitioner’s responsibility to demonstrate that they meet at least one of the expedite criteria, and we encourage petitioners to submit documentary evidence to support their expedite request.
We review all expedite requests on a case-by-case basis and will grant requests at the discretion of USCIS office leadership.

Why
USCIS is temporarily suspending premium processing for these petitions to help us reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be able to:

Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years; and

Prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240 day mark. 

We encourage H-1B petitioners to subscribe to email updates on the H-1B FY 2019 Cap Season webpage. (PR)