USCIS Set to Resume Premium Processing for Form I-129 and I-140

Category: COVID-19 Legal Resource Guide
Date: June 02, 2020
Title: USCIS Set to Resume Premium Processing for Form I-129 and I-140

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced 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. You may remember that 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).

The resumption of premium processing will follow the schedule below.

USCIS is now accepting premium processing requests in connection with 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 to resume 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) that 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 to resume 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.

USCIS reserves the right to change the above-listed resumption dates. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if there is a particular pending petition that you would like to convert to premium processing service.