USCIS Temporarily Suspends Premium Processing for all Form I-129 and Form I-140 Petitions

By: Angelita Chavez-Halaka; Gladys Gervacio; Jacqueline Valle

Summary

Effective immediately, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will temporarily suspend requests for premium processing service for all Form I-129 and Form I-140 petitions until further notice.

What is Premium Processing?

Premium processing (Form I-907) is an expedited service provided by USCIS to complete review of certain Form I-129 and Form I-140 petitions within 15 days or less.

What to Expect

All Form I-129 and Form I-140 petitions requesting premium processing service filed and accepted on March 20, 2020 onward will be rejected by USCIS.

• USCIS will also refund petitioners who already filed I-129 and I-140 petitions but were not processed by the agency within the 15-day period.

Which Cases will be Affected?

I-129: E-1, E-2, H-1B, H-2B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, R-1, TN-1 and TN-2

I-140: EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3

Please note: Premium processing will now be suspended for all H-1B cases including fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap petitions. Previous announcements about resuming premium processing services for FY 2021 H-1B cap petitions are no longer valid.

We will continue to monitor premium processing and coronavirus-related updates to USCIS policy.

Stay Updated

To learn more about measures USCIS is taking related to the coronavirus or to subscribe to our newsletter, email us at info@chugh.com. Please also forward this alert to your contacts who may benefit.