Premium Processing Resumes for H-1B Cap Cases

By Turid Owren, Alan Perkins, and Melany Savitt

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has resumed premium processing for all H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 cap.   

Who can use Premium Processing?
Premium processing is now available for the following types of H-1B petitions:

  • Pending H-1B U.S. master's cap petitions (reinstated September 18, 2017)
  • Pending H-1B regular cap petitions (reinstated September 18, 2017)
  • H-1B petitions filed on behalf of physicians under the Conrad 30 waiver program or through an interested government agency waiver (reinstated July 24, 2017)
  • H-1B cap-exempt petitions by institutions of higher education, a nonprofit related to or affiliated with an institution of higher education, or nonprofit research or governmental research organization (reinstated July 24, 2017)

Please contact Tonkon Torp's Immigration Practice Group if you are interested in upgrading your pending H-1B petition with a premium processing request. Your petition must meet one of the above criteria.

See the USCIS news release here.   

Looking ahead
USCIS has indicated that it plans to resume premium processing for all other remaining H-1B petition types as its workload permits.

This client alert is prepared for the general information of our clients and friends. It should not be regarded as legal advice. If you have any questions regarding this update, or for more information about this topic, please contact any of the attorneys in our Business Immigration Practice Group, or the attorney with whom you normally consult.

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