U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the agency will resume premium processing today, Monday, January 28, 2019, for all fiscal year 2019 (FY-2019) H-1B Cap petitions. This includes both Regular Cap and Master’s Cap petitions that were filed in April 2018 under the FY-2019 H-1B lottery.

For petitions that have received a Request for Further Evidence (RFE), petitioners should include their request for premium processing, along with required fee, when submitting the response to the RFE.

USCIS has confirmed that the suspension of premium processing remains in effect for other types of H-1B petitions that were subject to the suspension. Accordingly, the suspension of premium processing still remains in effect for H-1B change of employer petitions and H-1B amendment petitions.

As a result of the resumption of premium processing for FY-2019 H-1B petitions, currently the following types of H-1B petitions may be premium processed:

1. FY-2019 H-1B petitions filed in April 2018;
2. Cap-exempt Petitions filed exclusively at the California Service Center;
3. H-1B extensions petitions filed with Nebraska Service Center.

   USCIS has indicated that the agency will resume premium processing for other types of H-1B petitions as workloads permit.

To request premium processing for an eligible H-1B petition, contact your Foster attorney. Foster will continue to monitor changes in USCIS procedures and will provide updates as appropriate via Foster Immigration Updates© and on the firm’s website at www.fosterglobal.com.