Immigration processing times are not known for being quick – the opposite is sadly true as processing times for many case types have ticked up substantially over the past few years.  However, good news is at hand for at least a few more categories of employment-based permanent residence, as USCIS continues its phased approach to expanding the cases that are eligible for premium processing.  Premium processing allows for the payment of an extra fee to the agency; in return USCIS will adjudicate the petition within a greatly reduced time frame, the length of which depends on the case type.  However, the types of cases that are eligible for premium processing have been narrowly defined in the past.  With this third phase of premium process expansion, USCIS is permitting certain petitioners who have a pending Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications, to interfile premium processing on the pending cases.

As of September 15, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for:

• Multinational executive and manager petitions received on or before January 1, 2022 (EB-1); and
• National Interest Waiver petitions received on or before February 1, 2022 (EB-2).

USCIS has stated that it will reject premium processing requests for these Form I-140 classifications if the receipt date is after the above-mentioned dates.

Is your case eligible for premium processing?  If you have questions, reach out to the attorneys at Curray York & Associates for a consultation.