H-1B petitions are filed by employers to sponsor individuals for a temporary position in the United States, provided that such employment is for professional and/or specialty occupations such as information technology, engineering, accounting, etc. and the individual has the required degree for the position. When a petitioner requests USCIS's Premium Processing Service ("PPS"), USCIS guarantees a 15-calendar day processing time. This service was suspended on April 3, 2017 for all new H-1B cases, and, therefore, was not available for H-1B cases subject to the annual cap of 85,000 new H-1B Petitions.
On September 18, 2017, USCIS announced that it is resuming PPS for all H-1B Petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 H-1B cap of 85,000 visas. The H-1B "cap" Petitions are to sponsor individuals for employment beginning October 1, 2017.
Previously, USCIS had resumed PPS for H-1B Petitions filed on behalf of certain physicians as well as interested government agency waivers and for certain H-1B petitions that are not subject to the H-1B cap.
PPS for all other H-1B petitions, such as extensions of stay, remains temporarily suspended. USCIS plans to resume PPS for all other remaining H-1B Petitions not subject to the FY 2018 cap as permitted by USCIS workloads. We will provide additional notifications when USCIS begins to resume PPS for other H-1B Petitions.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
