United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will resume premium processing of H-1B petitions and employment-based green card petitions in phases from June 1, 2020.
On March 20, USCIS suspended temporarily premium processing for all Form I-129 (H-1B) and I-140 petitions (employment-based green card applications) due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
"USCIS continues to process any petition with a previously accepted Form I-907 (request for premium processing), in accordance with the premium processing service criteria," it said in a statement.
On June 1, premium processing will begin for all eligible employment-based green card petitions. From June 8, H-1B petitions that are pending adjudication and those that are cap-exempt, which are jobs exempt from the annual cap on foreign workers holding H-1B visa.
Current H-1B petitions that are cap-exempt will start on June 15 and starting June 22, premium processing of all other H-1B petitions will begin.
"All H-1B cap-subject petitions (including those for fiscal year 2021), including change of status from F-1 nonimmigrant status, for both premium processing upgrades and concurrently filed I-907s," the statement added.
These dates are subject to change, USCIS said.
"Petitioners who had already filed Form I-129 or Form I-140 using the premium processing service before the March 20 suspension, but received no action and a refund, may refile their Form I-907 consistent with the timeline above, barring any changes USCIS may announce in the future,” the statement further added.
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