On 5/24/2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the first phase of premium processing expansion. This expansion applies to certain petitioners who have a pending Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition), under the E13 multinational manager/executive classification or the E21 classification as a member of professions with advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking a national interest waiver (NIW).
USCIS will begin offering premium processing in a staggered approach for these I-140 petitions:
- Beginning June 1, 2022, USCIS will accept premium processing upgrade requests for E13 multinational manager/executive petitions received on or before January 1, 2021.
- Beginning July 1, 2022, USCIS will accept premium processing upgrade requests for E13 multinational manager/executive petitions received on or before March 1, 2021.
- Beginning June 1, 2022, USCIS will accept premium processing upgrade requests for E21 NIW petitions received on or before January 1, 2021.
Premium processing will only be available to petitioners who already have pending E13 multinational executive and manager or E21 NIW petitions, and petitioners should follow the schedule outlined in the chart below.
E13 Premium Upgrade Schedule
Start Date Filing/Priority Dates
June 1, 2022 On or before 1/1/2021
July 1, 2022 On or before 3/1/2021
E21 NIW Premium Upgrade Schedule
Start Date Filing/Priority Dates
June 1, 2022 On or before 1/1/2021
As previously announced, USCIS is implementing several efforts to increase efficiency and reduce burdens to the overall legal immigration system. One of those efforts is expanding premium processing to additional form types, including Form I-539 (extend/change nonimmigrant status) and Form I-765 (EAD application); and additional classifications under Form I-140.
To date, the premium processing expansion has not yet been implemented for I-539 and I-765 applications.