U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule on March 30, 2022 that will increase access to its premium processing service, under which applicants for certain immigration benefits can obtain expedited processing by paying additional fees. Through the new rule, USCIS seeks to address the budget shortfalls, backlogs, and ever-increasing processing times that have plagued the agency and frustrated applicants, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. USCIS intends to introduce the increased access to premium processing in the following phases.
Fiscal Year 2022 (by October 1, 2022):
- Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) in the employment-based first preference multinational manager (EB-1C) category and the employment-based second preference National Interest Waiver (EB-2 NIW) category.
For these new Form I-140 categories, the premium processing fee will be the standard $2,500. USCIS will make a decision on the petition within 45 calendar days, as opposed to the standard 15 calendar days for current premium processing categories. Given that USCIS’s current published processing times for EB-1C and EB-2 NIW Form I-140 petitions is 11-48.5 months, however, the expansion of premium processing to these case types is welcome news to petitioners and beneficiaries of those categories.
- Form I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status) for changes of status to F-1 (academic student), J-1 (exchange visitor), and M-1 (vocational student) statuses.
The premium processing fee for these Form I-539 categories will be $1,750 for 30-day processing, a much needed relief for prospective students, many of whom have previously had to delay starting their academic program for months or years while waiting for USCIS to adjudicate their changes of status.
- Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) for F-1 students applying for Optional Practical Training (OPT) and J-2 dependents of J-1 exchange visitors.
The premium processing fee for these Form I-765 categories will be $1,500 for 30-day processing.
Fiscal Year 2025 (after October 1, 2024):
- Form I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status) for changes and extensions of status for dependent spouses and children in the following statuses: E-1, E-2, E-3, H-4, L-2, O-3, P-4, and R-2.
- Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) for additional, as-yet unidentified categories of applicants.
USCIS has yet to release the fee and timeframes for these additional categories, and states that it will use its website to inform stakeholders what new case types will be eligible for premium processing, when, and under what conditions.
In addition to increased access to premium processing, USCIS also announced other actions aimed at reducing backlogs and providing relief to applicants, including by setting new internal processing goals for various application types and by extending validity periods for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) to ensure that applicants do not lose work authorization while their renewal EAD applications are pending.
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