USCIS Announces Expansion of Premium Processing
In March of 2022 USCIS announced a new rule as part of its actions to reduce backlogs and to provide certain relief to work permit holders.
On January 12, 2023, USCIS announced the first concrete dates for the implementation of expanded Premium Processing. Currently, Premium Processing is an expedited adjudication service provided by USCIS only available to petitioners filing a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, or a Form I-140 outside of the EB-2 NIW and EB-1C categories. Therefore, starting January 30, 2023, USCIS will accept Form I-907 Premium Processing requests for:
All initial and pending multinational executive and manager (EB-1C) Form I-140 petitions; and
All initial and pending National Interest Waiver (EB-2 NIW) Form I-140 petitions.
For EB-2 NIW and EB-1C Form I-140 petitions, USCIS will take adjudicative action within 45 calendar days of submission; for all other eligible petitions USCIS will take action within 15 calendar days.
EB-1C and EB-2 NIW Form I-140 petitions will be subject to the same Premium Processing fees as currently eligible Form I-140 categories ($2,500.00 currently). Premium Processing fees will depend on the underlying petition and are subject to change. Please see here for the most recent schedule of Premium Processing fees.
Starting in March of 2023, USCIS will also expand Premium Processing to certain Form I-765, Employment Authorization Document (EAD) applications. Students on F-1 status will be able to request Premium Processing for already pending regular and STEM OPT EAD applications, and in April of 2023 for all OPT EAD applications. USCIS will announce specific dates for the expansion of these benefits this upcoming February.
Lastly, USCIS will be making Premium Processing requests available in May and June of 2023 to certain Form I-539 applications, in which the applicant seeks to change to an F (academic students), J (exchange visitors), or M (vocational students) status. Additional statuses, including H-4s, are being contemplated for implementation in Fiscal Year 2025.
What this Means:
This announcement is a welcome development that enhances predictability for all employment-based permanent residency applicants. It also benefits certain students and exchange visitors who wish to commence their programs in an expeditious manner.
USCIS also assures that this latest expansion of Premium Processing will not affect the processing times for cases undergoing regular processing.
Employers and foreign nationals should begin working with their attorneys to review pending cases in the affected case types for which Premium Processing will take effect to identify time-sensitive cases that will be eligible for Premium Processing upgrades.
Goeschl Law will be closely monitoring the implementation of this latest expansion and will issue further client alerts as necessary.