U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on 5/29/2020 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 next month.
Effective June 1, 2020, USCIS will accept Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service for all eligible Form I-140 petitions.
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.
All dates are subject to change as USCIS continues to take on more premium processing requests and USCIS will announce any changes to these dates accordingly.
On March 20, USCIS announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Petitioners who had previously filed Form I-129 or Form I-140 using the premium processing service before the March 20 suspension, but received no action and a refund, may refile their Form I-907 consistent with the timeline above, barring any changes USCIS may announce in the future.
Procedure for Premium Conversions
If you have a pending petition filed by our office that you would like to convert to premium following the appropriate phase in date, please mail a personal, business or cashier's check to our office payable as follows:
Payable to: Law Office of Leila Freijy PLLC
Amount: $1590
This includes the premium processing fee of $1440, $100 in legal fees and $25 x 2 for UPS shipments.
If the check is not issued by the beneficiary (employee), the beneficiary's name should appear in the memo field of the check so we know whom it is for.
Procedure for Concurrent Premium Processing
If we will be filing an I-129 or I-140 on your behalf after the appropriate phase in date and you want it filed under premium processing, please mail a personal, business or cashier's check to our office payable as follows:
Payable to: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Amount: $1440
If the check is not issued by the beneficiary (employee), the beneficiary's name should appear in the memo field of the check so we know whom it is for.
This client alert is only being sent to company representatives. Please share with your foreign national employees as you see fit.
