U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has resumed premium processing for all H-1B petitions as of March 12, 2019. All H-1B petitions may be upgraded to premium processing or filed originally with a request for premium processing.
In recent years, USCIS has discontinued premium processing for H-1B cap cases in April to allow sufficient time for application of the lottery and receipting-in of selected petitions. Last year, the agency extended the suspension of premium processing well beyond the cap filing season and expanded the suspension to include most H-1B petitions.
In January 2019, premium processing was restored for FY 2019 cap-subject petitions that were filed in April 2018 and remained pending. In February, USCIS resumed premium processing for non-cap H-1B petitions filed before December 21, 2018. Now USCIS has restored premium processing for all H-1B petitions.
It is not clear whether the agency will continue premium processing for all H-1B petitions once H-1B cap petitions are filed in the first week of April. It is possible that USCIS could discontinue premium processing again for H-1B cap petitions or even other types of petitions.
To request an upgrade to premium processing for pending petitions that have received a Request for Evidence (RFE), petitioners should include their request for premium processing, along with the required fee, when submitting the response to the RFE. The USCIS filing fee for premium processing is $1,410, which guarantees action on the petition within 15 calendar days of USCIS's receiving the request. If USCIS does not take adjudicative action within the 15-day window, the agency refunds the petitioner's premium processing fee and continues with expedited processing of the petition.
Those who received a transfer notice for a pending H-1B petition and are requesting premium processing service must submit the premium processing request to the service center now handling the petition. They should also include a copy of the transfer notice with the premium processing request to avoid possible delays. If the petition was transferred and the petitioner sends the premium processing request to the wrong center, USCIS will forward it to the petition's current location. However, the premium processing "clock" will not start until the premium processing request has been received at the correct center.
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