USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for Select 2018 Petitions

Last Updated on February 23, 2023

On Feb. 15, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it would resume premium processing for select H-1B petitions.

What Do I Need To Know?

Here are some key takeaways from the Feb. 15 announcement:

  • On Feb. 19, USCIS will resume premium processing for all H-1B petitions filed on, or before, Dec. 21, 2018
  • If you are requesting premium processing service and received a transfer notice for a pending H-1B petition, then you will need to submit the premium processing request to the appropriate service center (see screenshot below)
  • Request for Evidence (RFE) responses, if they were requested for a pending petition, should be included with the premium processing request
  • The previously announced temporary suspension of premium processing remains in effect for the H-1B petitions filed on, or after, Dec. 22, 2018.

USCIS stated it plans to resume premium processing for the remaining categories of H-1B petitions as its workloads permit.

How Should I Proceed?

This announcement follows USCIS’ Jan. 25, 2019, announcement that premium processing is reopened for all Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B Cap Petitions (i.e. Cap petitions filed in April 2018). Now, via today’s announcement, USCIS is further expanding the use of their premium processing service for cases filed on, or prior to, Dec. 21, 2018.

If you have a pending petition that fits one of these descriptions, and you wish to upgrade your case to premium processing, then please reach out to an Envoy Global, Inc. representative to initiate the process.

If you are unsure whether your pending H-1B petition qualifies for premium processing service, then please reach out to an Envoy Global, Inc. representative; the team will analyze the facts of your petition and inform you whether your petition is eligible.

If your pending petition is not eligible for premium processing at this time, then please continue to frequent our website. USCIS intends to open premium processing for other cases in the future (possibly near future), and you can count on Envoy Global, Inc. to break the news when that happens.

Envoy is pleased to provide you this information, which was prepared in collaboration with Joseph M. Spesia, an Associate Attorney at Global Immigration Associates, P.C. (www.giafirm.com), Envoy’s affiliated law firm.