Commencing on April 2, 2018, USCIS is starting to accept H-1B petition subject to the financial year 2019 cap. It is going to temporary suspend premium processing for all cap subject 2019 petition for financial year 2019. This includes petition seeking for an exemption for individual with us master’s degree or higher. USCIS’s decision to suspend is expected to last until September 10, 2018. At this time, they will continue to accept premium processing request for h1b petition that are not subjected to the financial year 2019 cap. Notification will be passed on to the public before resuming premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petition or for making any other premium processing updates.
During the temporary suspension, there will be rejections to any Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, filed with an FY 2019 cap-subject H-1B petition. If a petitioner submits one combined cheque for the fees for Form I-907 and Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, both forms will be rejected. When the resumption of premium processing happens, petitioners might file a Form I-907 for FY 2019 cap-subject H-1B petitions that remains pending.
Requesting Expedited Processing
While premium processing will be suspended, a petitioner may submit the request to expedite an FY 2019 cap-subject H-1B petition if it meets the criteria on the Expedite Criteria webpage. It is the petitioner’s onus to demonstrate that they meet at least one of the expedite criteria mentioned. We reassure petitioners to submit documentary evidence to support their expedite request. We assess case-by-case all the expedite requests basis and will grant requests at the discretion of USCIS office leadership.
Why We Are Temporarily Suspending Premium Processing for These Petitions
This momentary suspension will help us reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be capable to:
– Processing long-pending petitions, which we have presently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the 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.
