USCIS Announces It Will Resume Premium Processing for I-129 and I-140 Petitions

Maggio Kattar

USCIS announced May 29,2020 that it will resume premium processing service for Form I-129 and I-140 petitions in phases over the next month, beginning June 1, 2020.  USCIS had suspended premium processing for all newly filed I-129 and I-140 petitions beginning March 20, 2020.

Beginning June 1, 2020, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for eligible I-140 Immigrant Worker Petitions.  Although today’s announcement does not explain which specific I-140 petitions would be “eligible”, USCIS will likely accept premium processing requests for the same types of I-140 petitions that were eligible prior to March 20, 2020. Should USCIS make additional I-140 petitions eligible for premium processing, we will issue addition guidance.

Premium Processing requests for I-129 (nonimmigrant worker) Petitions will begin on June 8th for specific case types and additional case types will be phased in on June 15th and June 22nd:

Effective June 8, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for:

  • H-1B petitions filed before June 8 that are pending adjudication and 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 classifications eligible for premium processing filed before June 8 that are pending adjudication.

Effective June 15, USCIS plans on resuming premium processing for:

  • H-1B petitions requesting premium processing by filing an I-907 concurrently with their I-129 (or request for a petition filed on or after June 8) and are exempt from the cap because:
  • The employer is cap-exempt or because the beneficiary will 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).

Effective June 22, USCIS plans on resuming premium processing for all other Form I-129 petitions, including:

  • All H-1B cap-subject petitions (including those for fiscal year 2021), including change of status from F-1 nonimmigrant status, for both premium processing upgrades and concurrently filed I-907s.
  • All other Form I-129 petitions for nonimmigrant classifications eligible for premium processing and requesting premium processing by filing an I-907 concurrently with their I-129.

 

Please contact your Maggio Kattar attorney if you have any questions.