USCIS Announces Temporary Suspension of Premium Processing for FY2021 H-1B Cap Petitions

Today the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that premium processing service for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap petitions would be temporarily suspended. As with past years, USCIS will resume premium processing in two phases. USCIS will initially resume premium processing for FY2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting a change of status from F-1 nonimmigrant status no later than May 27, 2020, and will notify the public before premium processing resumes for these petitions. The earliest date that USCIS will resume premium processing for all other FY2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions is June 29, 2020. At this time, USCIS has confirmed that premium processing remains available for all other cap-exempt H-1B petitions, such as extension of stay requests.

D&S will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.

DHS Releases Final Rule Amending Regulations Governing H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an advanced copy of the Final Rule titled “Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking To File H-1B Petitions on Behalf of Cap Subject Aliens” that changes the order in which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) selects H-1B petitions under the H-1B regular cap and the advanced degree exemption, and implements an electronic registration process for H-1B cap petitions. The rule will go into effect on April 1, 2019. However, USCIS stated that the registration requirement will be suspended for the fiscal year 2020 cap season to enable the Service to ensure full functionality of the system.

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USCIS To Resume Premium Processing Service for FY2019 H-1B Cap Cases on 1/28/2019

Today, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that it will resume premium processing service on Monday, January 28, 2019, for still-pending FY2019 H-1B cap petitions. USCIS’s announcement notes that petitioners who have received requests for evidence (RFEs) for pending FY2019 cap petitions should include their RFE response with their premium processing upgrade requests.

The announcement further states that the previously implement suspension of premium processing service will remain in effect for remaining categories of H-1B petitions until agency workloads permit premium processing service to resume.

D&S will continue to monitor the H-1B premium processing suspension and provide updates as they become available.