USCIS to Implement Additional Phase of Premium Processing Expansion

By William L. Coffman

On January 30, 2023, USCIS will begin accepting some additional premium processing requests pursuant to its expansion of this program. Under this latest expansion, announced by USCIS on January 12, 2023, certain employment-based I-140 immigrant petitions will be eligible for premium processing. In the EB-1 category, EB-1C multinational executive and manager I-140 petitions that are pending or filed on the January 30th effective date are eligible for premium processing. This expansion also applies to EB-2 National Interest Waiver (“NIW”) I-140 petitions. Unlike previous expansions of this program, this expansion is for newly filed petitions, as well as those still pending.

As with any premium processing request, Form I-907 and the appropriate fee of $2,500 must be submitted. For these I-140 EB categories, the guaranteed initial review time is 45 days rather than the 15-day timeframe for most other filings eligible for premium processing. USCIS’s announcement also confirms that starting in March of 2023, premium processing will expand to pending I-765 applications for F-1 OPT employment authorization cards. In April, premium processing will expand to initial OPT and STEM OPT filings.

Please contact your Mintz attorney with any questions regarding premium processing eligibility.

 

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    William L. Coffman

    Special Counsel

    William L. Coffman focuses on immigration and nationality law at Mintz. He represents clients on immigration matters before the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Labor, and US and foreign consulates.