On August 1, 2022, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting Form I-907, the Request for Premium Processing, for certain petitions that are already pending. These petitions include EB-1C multinational executive-and-manager I-140 received on or before July 1, 2021, and EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) I-140 received on or before August 1, 2021. The USCIS will need to take action within 45 days on I-140 forms already pending in these categories, which was not the case when filing premium processing petitions.

The 45-day time limit only begins once the USCIS receives the required prerequisites for adjudication. However, should the USCIS issue a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) or a Request for Evidence (RFE), the 45-day period will start after the USCIS receives a response. Therefore, these petitions will have a premium processing filing fee of $2,500.

The USCIS originally stated that it would be expanding its premium processing to more categories in compliance with the Department of Homeland Security’s final decree from May 31, 2022. The rule implemented the Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act, which Congress passed to reduce current backlogs and help Employment Authorization Document (EAD) cardholders. The expansion has three phases for accepting premium processing requests.

During the first phase, which began on June 1, 2022, the USCIS accepted premium processing requests for EB-1C multinational executive and manager petitions received on or before January 1, 2021.

In the second phase, they accepted premium processing requests for EB-2 NIW petitions received on or before June 1, 2021, and EB-1C multinational executive and manager petitions received on or before March 1, 2021.

The next phase of premium processing is expected to start in 2022 and should include Forms I-539 and I-765 for some F, M, and J non-immigrants. Additionally, the USCIS has stated that 2025 premium processing will be available for additional applicants of Form I-765 and Form I-539 for E, H, L, O, P, and R dependents. Expanding premium processing should help workers and employers by reducing processing times.

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