The expansion of U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services’ (USCIS) premium processing program has moved into a new phase!  At long last, premium processing will now include all multinational manager and executive I-140 petitions as well as National Interest Waiver (NIW) I-140 petitions.  Beginning January 30, 2023, USCIS will accept Form I-907 premium processing requests for all new and pending I-140 petitions for multinational executive and manager petitions and NIW petitions. These premium-processed I-140 petitions are to be adjudicated within 45 days.  In March 2023, USCIS plans to further expand premium processing to pending Form I-765s filed by F-1 students for Optional Technical Training (OPT) and STEM OPT.  This will be further expanded in April 2023 to initial OPT and STEM OPT applications. Exact details are expected to be announced in February 2023.

Premium processing allows petitions to be adjudicated much faster than the stated USCIS processing times, for an additional USCIS filing fee.  More and more employers and beneficiaries are electing to use premium process as USCIS processing delays have continued to increase in the post-Covid world.  Have questions about whether your petition is eligible for premium processing?  Reach out to the attorneys at CYA today!