USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for FY 2018 H-1B Cap Cases

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is resuming premium processing on September 18, 2017 for all H-1B visa petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 cap.

When a petitioner requests premium processing service by filing Form I-907, USCIS guarantees a 15 calendar-day processing time, which begins when the premium processing request is received by USCIS. If a Request for Evidence (RFE) is issued, the 15 calendar-day clock is suspended. On the date that the RFE response is received by USCIS, the 15 calendar-day clock re-starts again. If the 15 calendar-day processing time is not met, the agency will refund the petitioner’s premium processing service fee and continue with expedited processing of the application. Premium processing service is only available for pending H-1B cap petitions, not new submissions, since USCIS already received enough petitions in April to meet the FY 2018 cap.

Upgrading to premium processing will be particularly important for H-1B change of status petitions filed on behalf of foreign employees working under Optional Practical Training (OPT) and currently covered by “cap-gap” work authorization (i.e. where the employee’s OPT work authorization expires between April 1, 2017 and September 30, 2017). For these employees, their cap-gap work authorization is valid only until September 30, 2017, so they might experience a gap in employment authorization if the H-1B cap petition is not approved by October 1, 2017.

In addition to resuming premium processing for H-1B visa petitions subject to the FY 2018 cap, USCIS had previously resumed premium processing H-1B petitions filed on behalf of physicians under the Conrad 30 waiver program, as well as interested government agency waivers and for certain H-1B petitions filed by “cap-exempt employers” such as institutions of higher education, governmental research organizations, and non-profit organizations affiliated with an institution of higher education. Premium processing remains suspended for all other H-1B petitions, such as change of employer petitions filed for an employee to work at a private company’s worksite, and petitions for extension of H-1B status.

USCIS plans to resume premium processing for all other remaining H-1B petitions not subject to the FY 2018 cap as agency workloads permit. However, employers may submit a request to “expedite” an H-1B petition if they meet the specific agency criteria. USCIS reviews all expedite requests on a case-by-case basis, and requests are granted at the discretion of USCIS.

Please contact your immigration team at McCown & Evans if you would like to discuss the process and fees to “upgrade” a pending H-1B cap petition to premium processing.