USCIS temporarily suspends premium processing for H-1B visas

By Lalit K Jha

Washington, Mar 20 (PTI) The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has temporarily suspended the premium processing for H-1B visas, mostly given to technology professionals intending to work in the country.

This has been done ahead of the start of the April 1 annual season for H-1B petitions.

The temporary suspension is similar to last year's suspension and will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing times, the USCIS said on Thursday.

Petitioners filing FY 2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions will not be able to request premium processing when the USCIS begins accepting cap-subject petitions on April 1, a notification by the agency said.

Until premium processing resumes for FY 2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions, the USCIS will reject any Form I-907 concurrently filed with a cap-subject H-1B Form I-129, it added.

The USCIS said it will resume premium processing for FY 2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting a change of status from F-1 nonimmigrant status no later than May 27, 2020, and will notify the public before premium processing resumes for these petitions.

The earliest date the USCIS will resume premium processing for all other FY 2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions is June.

However, at this time, the premium processing remains available for H-1B petitions that are exempt from the cap, such as extension of stay requests.