U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has temporarily suspended Premium Processing for fiscal year (FY) 2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions beginning April 1, 2020. The suspension is aimed at reducing processing times for all H-1B petitions.
Similar to last year, USCIS will resume Premium Processing for H-1B cap petitions in two phases:
- First phase: No later than May 27, 2020, cap-subject petitions including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, requesting a change of status from F-1 status, will be eligible to upgrade to Premium Processing.
- Second phase: No earlier than June 29, 2020, Premium Processing will resume for all other cap-subject petitions. USCIS will announce the exact date for resuming Premium Processing at a later time.
Premium Processing remains available to cap-exempt H-1B petitions such as extension of stay requests.
For questions on whether Premium Processing is available to your specific case, please contact your Graham Adair attorney. To receive the latest updates on this issue, please follow us on Twitter (@GrahamAdairLaw).