WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will expand Premium Processing Service for designated Forms I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) to include alien beneficiaries who have reached, or are reaching, their limitation of stay in H-1B nonimmigrant status.  Currently, only certain alien beneficiaries who are in H-1B nonimmigrant status at the time of filing may request premium processing for Form I-140. 

Beginning March 2, 2009, USCIS will accept Form I-907 (Request for Premium Processing Service) for alien worker petitions filed on behalf of alien beneficiaries who, as of the date of filing the Form I-907:

• Are the beneficiary of a Form I-140 petition filed in a preference category that has been designated for premium processing service;
• Have reached the sixth-year statutory limitation of their H-1B stay, or will reach the end of their sixth year of H-1B stay within 60 days of filing;
• Are only eligible for a further H-1B extension under section 104(c) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (AC21); and
• Are ineligible to extend their H-1B status under section 106(a) of AC21.

Section 104(c) of AC21 permits applicants to extend their stay in H-1B nonimmigrant status in increments of up to three years, provided they are the beneficiary of an approved Form I-140 and an immigrant visa is not immediately available.  Section 106(a) of AC21 permits applicants to extend their stay in H-1B nonimmigrant status in increments of up to one year, provided the Form I-140 petition or underlying labor certification has been pending for at least 365 days. 

Premium Processing offers 15 calendar day-processing for designated employment-based petitions and applications upon request.  There is a nonrefundable fee of $1,000 for this service.  During the 15-day period, USCIS will issue an approval or denial notice, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence, or open an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation.

More details on premium processing for Form I-140 petitions are available in a Fact Sheet in the Related Links section of this page.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will expand Premium Processing Service for designated Forms I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker to include alien beneficiaries who have reached or are reaching their limitation of stay in H-1B nonimmigrant status.  Currently, only certain alien beneficiaries who are in H-1B nonimmigrant status at the time of filing may request Form I-140 Premium Processing Service. 

Starting on March 2, USCIS will accept the Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for Forms I-140 filed on behalf of alien beneficiaries who, as of the date of filing the Form I-907:

• Are the beneficiary of a form I-140 petition filed in a preference category that has been designated for premium processing service;
• Have reached the 6th year statutory limitation of their H-1B stay, or will reach the end of their 6th year of H-1B stay within 60 days of filing;
• They are only eligible for a further H-1B extension upon approval of their Form I-140 petition as prescribed by American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act (AC21) provisions 104(c)¹ ; and
• Are ineligible to extend their H-1B status under AC21 §106(a^{)2. (more…)}

The Department of Labor (DOL) has steadily increased enforcement measures which have in turn led to an increase in the amount of audits and processing times for PERM applications. By way of background, the PERM application is the first required step for many employers seeking to sponsor a foreign employee for permanent residence. (more…)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds petitioners who participate in the H-2A agricultural temporary worker program and the H-2B nonagricultural temporary worker program to use the new Form I-129, “Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker,” which contains the H Classification Supplement.

USCIS published the final rules for the H-2A classification (73 FR 76891) and the H-2B classification (73 FR 78104) in December 2008 with effective dates of Jan. 17, 2009, and Jan. 18, 2009, respectively.   These final rules necessitated revising the H Classification Supplement to the Form I-129.  The new Form I-129 with the Jan. 22, 2009 revision date incorporates all necessary changes on account of the H-2A and H-2B final rules and should be used in lieu of the older version.  Petitioners who file using an older version of the form for the H-2A and H-2B classifications will experience delays because they will receive a request for the revised H Classification Supplement to the Form I-129.  Although previous editions of the Form I-129 are still accepted, petitioners seeking H-2A and H-2B classifications are urged to use the most current version of the Form I-129 posted on the Web site.

More information about the H-2A and the H-2B programs is available at www.uscis.gov or by calling the National Customer Service Center at 1 (800) 375-5283.