News Updates

USCIS to Resume Premium Processing for Certain I-140 Petitions on June 16, 2008

USCIS has announced that Premium Processing will be available for selected I-140 Immigrant Visa Petitions.  To be eligible to file an I-140 premium processing request, the employee must meet the following criteria:

1)  The employee must currently be in the U.S. in valid H-1B nonimmigrant status;

2)  The employee must reach the 6th year of his/her H-1B nonimmigrant stay within the next 60 days;

3)  The employee has no other means to extend his/her H-1B status without the approval of the I-140 petition.  For example, if the employee is eligible for an H-1B extension beyond the 6 years due to the fact that their green card has been in process for more than one year, then they do not need to obtain an H-1B extension under the provision reserved for those who have an I-140 approval but cannot complete the green card process due to immigrant visa quota backlogs. 

Premium processing guarantees a response from USCIS (approval, denial, or request for additional evidence) to the I-140 filing within 15 calendar days of receiving the premium processing request.  USCIS charges a filing fee of $1,000 for premium processing.

At this time premium processing for I-140 petitions is not available to foreign workers who have already exhausted their H-1B time and are either in another nonimmigrant status or are outside the US.  However, the immigration bar has asked USCIS to reconsider the exclusion of these individuals since they are also in need of immediate relief.   We will advise impacted clients if USCIS should change their position to allow I-140 premium processing requests for individuals who are not currently in H-1B status.

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