On May 29, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced the phased resumption of Premium Processing.  Premium Processing allows employers to obtain expedited decisions on certain immigration filings by paying an additional $1,440.00 fee.  Because USCIS can take months to process petitions, Premium Processing is heavily utilized by many employers to avoid delays in employing specialized foreign national workers.  USCIS suspended Premium Processing in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effective June 1, 2020, USCIS began accepting Premium Processing requests for all eligible I-140 Petitions.  On June 8, 2020, USCIS started accepting Premium Processing requests for (1) pending H-1B petitions filed before June 8, 2020 that are exempt from the H-1B cap and (2) all other pending non-H-1B I-129 petitions that are otherwise eligible for Premium Processing.  On June 15, 2020, USCIS will begin accepting new concurrently filed Premium Processing requests for most cap-exempt H-1B petitions, including Conrad 30/IGA physician cases.  USCIS plans to resume Premium Processing for all other eligible I-129 petitions on June 22, 2020.

While USCIS hopes to operate according to the timeline, the agency also noted dates are subject to change based on workflow needs.

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