Employers who still have pending H-1B cap petitions filed in April 2018 can now request premium processing of those cases.  Even though the USCIS has taken nearly a year to decide these petitions, an employer can’t be sure when its petition will be processed unless it agrees to pay the steep $1410 premium processing price.

Acccording to the USCIS recent annoucement:

USCIS will resume premium processing on Monday, Jan. 28, for all fiscal year (FY) 2019 H-1B cap petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption (the “master’s cap”). Petitioners who have received requests for evidence (RFEs) for pending FY 2019 cap petitions should include their RFE response with any request for premium processing they may submit.

H-1B visas provide employers with skilled workers for a wide range of specialty occupations. When a petitioner requests the agency’s premium processing service, USCIS guarantees a 15-day processing time. If we do not take certain adjudicative action within the 15‑calendar day processing time, USCIS refunds the petitioner’s premium processing service fee and continues with expedited processing of the petition. This service is only available for pending petitions, not new submissions, because we have already received enough petitions to meet the FY 2019 cap.

The previously announced temporary suspension of premium processing remains in effect for all other categories of H-1B petitions to which it applied. We plan to resume premium processing for the remaining categories of H‑1B petitions as agency workloads permit.

We will continue to notify the public via uscis.gov when we begin accepting premium processing for other categories of H-1B petition

This information is provided as an educational service. Consult with an attorney for your specific circumstances.  For a comprehensive evaluation of your immigration options, you are invited to call me at 214-472-2161, complete my contact form, or visit my websites at www.badmuslaw.com and  www.physicianimmigration.com.