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Planning To File Your 2018 H-1B Cap Case Under Premium Processing? Not So Fast…

3/27/18

By: Kenneth S. Levine
On March 20th USCIS announced an indefinite suspension of the premium processing program for H-1B visa petitions that are subject to the 2018 statutory cap.  The annual statutory cap limits the total of H-1B visas that can be approved in any one year to 85,000, 20,000 of which are set aside for foreign nationals who obtained a Master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university in the U.S.
H-1B cap exempt petitions, which applies to higher education institutions, non-profits affiliated with a higher education institution and non-profit or governmental research organizations, remain eligible for premium processing.
The USCIS announcement made clear that any H-1B petitions that include a request for premium processing would simply be rejected and returned to the employer. The suspension of the premium processing service does not apply to petitions for renewals, amendments or transfers of H-1B visas.
It should be noted that USCIS also suspended premium processing in March 2017 for H-1B cap and cap exempt cases.  The program was reinstated around 6 months later.  Therefore, FMG Immigration Attorneys are cautiously optimistic that premium processing for soon to be filed H-1B cap cases will resume in October 2018.
For additional information related to this topic and for advice regarding how to navigate U.S. immigration laws you may contact Kenneth S. Levine of the law firm of Freeman, Mathis & Gary, LLP at (770-551-2700) or klevine@fmglaw.com.