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ARTICLE · 15 MARCH 2017

USCIS Suspends Premium Processing For ALL H-1B Petitions

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Late Friday, March 3, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it was indefinitely suspending premium processing for ALL H-1B petitions filed on or after April 3, 2017.

United StatesImmigration
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Late Friday, March 3, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it was indefinitely suspending premium processing for ALL H-1B petitions filed on or after April 3, 2017. This suspension would mean that no FY 2018 cap-subject H-1B petitions could be filed under premium processing.  The same exclusion would apply to H-1B extension petitions, H-1B Change of Employer amendment/extension petitions, and H-1B Cap exempt petitions filed on or after April 3. USCIS will continue to premium process H-1B petitions if the petitioner properly filed before April 3, 2017. The apparent reason for this suspension is that USCIS is so far behind in its processing of H-1B petitions, that it does not want to devote resources to premium processing of H-1B petitions. USCIS will focus on adjudicating long pending petitions and prioritize H-1B extensions cases that are nearing the 240 day mark.

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