USCIS Announce Second Phase of Premium Processing

USCIS is implementing the second phase of the expansion of premium processing to certain applicants with pending Form I-140 applications under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications. USCIS originally introduced the expansion of premium processing back in April 2022 to help reduce the backlog of applications. To learn more, please click here. Premium processing is an expedited service offered by USCIS where applicants can pay an extra premium processing fee to have their applications adjudicated within a certain number of days. The cost and number of days differ by the type of application. For more information about the applications that are currently available for premium processing, please click here.

USCIS has announced the second phase of the expansion will begin on August 1, 2022. The second phase includes the following types of applications:

• E13 multinational executive and manager petitions received on or before July 1, 2021; and
• E21 NIW petitions received on or before Aug. 1, 2021.

USCIS will not accept premium processing requests for the above classifications if the receipt date is after the dates listed above. For the ones listed above, once the premium processing request is accepted, USCIS will review the applications in 45 days, provided that USCIS receives all prerequisites for adjudicating the case. This means that USCIS will not start counting the 45 days clock until it determines that it has received all necessary documentation and information from any necessary interviews, biometrics, or background checks, as appropriate to the case type. If a RFE or NOID is issued, a new 45 day clock will begin once USCIS receives the petitioner’s response to the RFE or NOID. The cost for the premium processing will be $2500.