The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will resume premium processing for all H-1B petitions filed on or before December 21, 2018.
Back on September 11, 2018, USCIS had announced that it was extending a previously announced temporary suspension of premium processing for H-1B cap petitions and expanding the suspension to include certain additional H-1B petitions. On January 28, 2019, USCIS announced that it would resume premium processing for FY 2019 cap-subject petitions, and today’s announcement resumes premium processing for all H-1B petitions that were filed on or before December 21, 2018.
Special directions for H-1B petitions filed on or before December 21, 2018
- If you received a transfer notice for a pending H-1B petition filed on or before December 21, 2018, and you are requesting premium processing service, you must submit the premium processing request to the service center that is now handling the operation. You should include a copy of the transfer notice with your premium processing request.
- If you have received a Request for Evidence (RFE) for a pending H-1B petition filed on or before December 21, 2018, and you are requesting premium processing service, you should include the RFE response with the premium processing request.
Premium processing guarantees that a H-1B petition will be adjudicated and processed within 15-calendar days. If USCIS does not take certain adjudicative action within these 15-calendar days, USCIS refunds the petitioner’s premium processing service fee and continues with expedited processing of the petition.
USCIS will also notify the public when it will begin to accept premium processing for all H-1B petitions, regardless of filing date. Our office will keep you updated regarding this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.