USCIS Reinstates Premium Processing for some H-1B Petitions – What does this mean?
Earlier this year, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it would suspend premium processing of H-1B petitions from the 3rd of April, 2017. The suspension was slated to last for up to six months. The suspension affected H-1B petitions that were signed on or after the 3rd of April, 2017. The reason behind this suspension as per the USCIS is that they needed to better the allocation of adjudications resources and work on reducing the overall processing time.
On the 24th of July 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the resumption of premium processing for H-1B visa petitions for certain petitions. Runrex.com clarifies what this actually means to applicants.
How premium processing works
H-1B visa usually takes quite a long time to process. Before the suspension of the processing, it would take an average of between six to eight months for an H-1B visa petition to be processed. Premium processing is an option petitioners can take at an extra cost to have their petitions processed much faster. A petitioner would have to pay an additional $1,225 premium processing fee in addition to the other government application fees to access this service. With the premium processing, a petitioner is guaranteed to have their petition processed within 15 calendar days. If the same does not happen, the premium processing fees are refunded to them. Premium processing is, therefore, a great way for applicants to have their petitions heard pretty fast.
Background of the suspension
The suspension was quite broad, unlike prior suspensions for premium processing similar to this one. The rationale that governed the decision to suspend the service is that there has been a heavy and growing demand and a very high number of “cap” filings. Another reason is that over the years, the amount of time it takes to process a single H-1B visa case has been growing steadily. In fact, while you would expect a single petition to be processed between 6 to 8 months without the premium processing, some petitions have taken up to 10 months for their processing to be complete. As such, there was a great need for reorganization of resources to ensure that the overall processing time for H-1B visa petitions is reduced.
Reinstatement of H-1B premium processing for Cap-Exempt employers
The reinstatement of premium processing for H-1B petitions began with those of cap-exempt employers. The annual cap for H-1B visa is 65,000 per fiscal year and an additional annual ”master’s cap” for beneficiaries with a United States master’s degree of 20,000 petitions. Premium processing resumed in July 24th for petitioners who were either an institution of higher education, a governmental or non-profit research institution or a non-profit that is affiliated or related with an institution offering higher learning. Petitions for beneficiaries who were headed for employment at a qualifying cap-exempt organization, entity or institution were also eligible for premium processing service.
Earlier in June on the 26th day of the month, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it had resumed premium processing for H-1B visa petitions for physicians that are filed under Conrad 30 waiver program and any interested government agency waivers.
Reinstatement of premium processing for the other H-1B visa petitions
The USCIS has not indicated or committed to any date as to when they are to resume premium processing for the other types of H-1B visa petitions. It can be seen that they have been reinstating the service gradually. The first was in June for the physicians and then a month later for cap-exempt employers. As such, there are no specific details as to when full premium processing services will resume. But basing on the information available on the USCIS website, resumption will be based on the workload available. This is an indicator that the resumption of the service will be gradual. It is expected that by the time October sets in, premium processing services for most, or all, of the H-1B petitions will have been reinstated.
Relief for employers who rely on premium processing to outsource staff
The announcement of the suspension of premium processing services by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services earlier this year meant that employers who wanted to outsource their staff fast had to wait for longer periods. As such, the reinstatement of some of the premium processing services is highly welcomed by the employers as it will offer some degree of relief on their side. With the hope that full service will be reinstated by the time October sets in, the significant hardship that employers and the employees have had to endure will soon be over. The suspension resulted in many of the employers and employees having to suspend their plans indefinitely as they would have to cope with the long processing periods that premium processing eliminates.
Employers who intend to apply for premium processing for their H-1B visa petitions should be very keen with their dates and timings as they anticipate the reinstatement of premium processing in the coming weeks.
On the 24th of July 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the resumption of premium processing for H-1B visa petitions for certain petitions. Runrex.com clarifies what this actually means to applicants.
How premium processing works
H-1B visa usually takes quite a long time to process. Before the suspension of the processing, it would take an average of between six to eight months for an H-1B visa petition to be processed. Premium processing is an option petitioners can take at an extra cost to have their petitions processed much faster. A petitioner would have to pay an additional $1,225 premium processing fee in addition to the other government application fees to access this service. With the premium processing, a petitioner is guaranteed to have their petition processed within 15 calendar days. If the same does not happen, the premium processing fees are refunded to them. Premium processing is, therefore, a great way for applicants to have their petitions heard pretty fast.
Background of the suspension
The suspension was quite broad, unlike prior suspensions for premium processing similar to this one. The rationale that governed the decision to suspend the service is that there has been a heavy and growing demand and a very high number of “cap” filings. Another reason is that over the years, the amount of time it takes to process a single H-1B visa case has been growing steadily. In fact, while you would expect a single petition to be processed between 6 to 8 months without the premium processing, some petitions have taken up to 10 months for their processing to be complete. As such, there was a great need for reorganization of resources to ensure that the overall processing time for H-1B visa petitions is reduced.
Reinstatement of H-1B premium processing for Cap-Exempt employers
The reinstatement of premium processing for H-1B petitions began with those of cap-exempt employers. The annual cap for H-1B visa is 65,000 per fiscal year and an additional annual ”master’s cap” for beneficiaries with a United States master’s degree of 20,000 petitions. Premium processing resumed in July 24th for petitioners who were either an institution of higher education, a governmental or non-profit research institution or a non-profit that is affiliated or related with an institution offering higher learning. Petitions for beneficiaries who were headed for employment at a qualifying cap-exempt organization, entity or institution were also eligible for premium processing service.
Earlier in June on the 26th day of the month, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it had resumed premium processing for H-1B visa petitions for physicians that are filed under Conrad 30 waiver program and any interested government agency waivers.
Reinstatement of premium processing for the other H-1B visa petitions
The USCIS has not indicated or committed to any date as to when they are to resume premium processing for the other types of H-1B visa petitions. It can be seen that they have been reinstating the service gradually. The first was in June for the physicians and then a month later for cap-exempt employers. As such, there are no specific details as to when full premium processing services will resume. But basing on the information available on the USCIS website, resumption will be based on the workload available. This is an indicator that the resumption of the service will be gradual. It is expected that by the time October sets in, premium processing services for most, or all, of the H-1B petitions will have been reinstated.
Relief for employers who rely on premium processing to outsource staff
The announcement of the suspension of premium processing services by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services earlier this year meant that employers who wanted to outsource their staff fast had to wait for longer periods. As such, the reinstatement of some of the premium processing services is highly welcomed by the employers as it will offer some degree of relief on their side. With the hope that full service will be reinstated by the time October sets in, the significant hardship that employers and the employees have had to endure will soon be over. The suspension resulted in many of the employers and employees having to suspend their plans indefinitely as they would have to cope with the long processing periods that premium processing eliminates.
Employers who intend to apply for premium processing for their H-1B visa petitions should be very keen with their dates and timings as they anticipate the reinstatement of premium processing in the coming weeks.