USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for Certain Cap-Subject H-1B Visa Petitions

On September 18, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that premium processing would resume for H-1B visa petitions subject to the Fiscal Year 2018 (FY2018) cap. The announcement applies only to currently pending H-1B petitions, which were accepted for processing by USCIS under either the FY2018 regular cap or master’s degree cap.

USCIS previously resumed premium processing for H-1B petitions filed for medical doctors under the Conrad 30 waiver program, as well as for interested government agency waivers and certain cap-exempt H-1B petitions. Premium processing for all other H-1B petitions remains suspended at this time. USCIS has indicated that additional premium processing services will resume in the future, as USCIS workloads permit.

In the meantime, petitioners may request that the agency expedite their application, if they meet certain criteria. Expedite requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and are granted at the discretion of USCIS leadership.

For legal advice regarding H-1B petitions, please contact Murphy Desmond at (608) 270-5550 to schedule a consultation with Immigration Attorney Glorily A. López.