Premium processing services will be expanded under a recent federal government funding bill that was just passed by Congress. Under the bill, the cost of premium processing will increase, and will also be available to many types of cases where premium processing was not available.

 

The law takes effect immediately, however, it will likely take USCIS several weeks to implement the changes and begin accepting cases that are newly eligible for premium processing. It is also not clear at this time what the exact fees will be. At this point in time, the only numbers that have been provided are the upper limit caps.

 

This is a breakdown of what we know:

 

• H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, and other non-immigrant petitions filed on I-129: $2500. Timing for adjudication remains at 15 calendar days.

 

• I-140 petitions for most case types: $2500. Timing for adjudication remains at 15 calendar days.

 

• NEW: I-539 applications for dependents: upper limit of $1750. Timing for adjudication will be 30 days.

 

• NEW: I-140 for Multinational Managers and National Interest Waiver: upper limit of $2500. Timing for adjudication will be 45 days.

 

• NEW: EAD card applications: upper limit of $1500. Timing for adjudication will be 30 days.

 

USCIS will make announcements about accepting additional case types and the schedule for rolling out premium processing fee increases. We are watching for these announcements and will provide details as they become available.