The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced the expansion of the premium processing to include certain employer petitions, beginning August 28, 2006. Premium Processing allows petitioners to pay an additional $1,000 filing fee in exchange for 15-calendar-day processing of the case.

Beginning August 28, 2006, employers filing immigrant petitions on form I-140 for Professionals and Skilled Workers in the EB-3 category. “Professionals” are defined as individuals with a bachelor’s degree who are members of the professions, and “Skilled Workers” are those defined as those capable of performing skilled labor requiring at least two years of education, training or experience. Only individuals with I-140 petitions in these categories will be eligible to participate in the premium processing program.

Please note that Premium Processing will not be available for petitions in the EB-2 category, or for “Other Workers” in the EB-3 category.