Effective June 29, 2009, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will resume premium processing for most employment-based immigrant visa petitions.
USCIS will accept premium processing requests for:
- aliens of extraordinary ability (EB1)
- outstanding professors and researchers (EB1)
- professionals with advanced degree or exceptional ability not seeking a national interest waiver (EB2)
- professionals (EB3)
- skilled workers (EB3)
- other workers (EB3)
The employment-based categories not eligible for premium processing are:
- multinational managers and executives (EB1)
- professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking a national interest waiver (EB2)
- religious (EB4)
- employment creation (EB5)
Premium processing costs $1,000 and can be requested when the I-140 petition is filed or at any time while the petition remains pending.
USCIS previously terminated premium processing for I-140s on May 17, 2007, on the grounds of limited capacity.
A copy of the press release can be obtained by clicking here.