Immigration Service Suspends Premium Processing of H-1B Visa Applications

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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it would suspend premium H-3B visa applications from 1 in April this year. In addition, applicants will not be able to file the I-907 Form, an application for the premium processing of the I-129 form, a petition to a non-immigration worker who requires an H-1B visa. USCIC will inform the public before resuming application processing for H-1B.

Who will be affected

Temporary suspension applies to premium H-1B application processing, filed on or after April 3. During the suspension of the H-1B visa processing, the immigration service will not take the form of the I-907 filed with the H-1B petition. If the applicant pays with one check the fees for the I-907 form and the I-129 H-1B form, the service will refuse both forms.

USCIC will continue to process the I-129 form for the H-1B visa if the applicant has properly filed the relevant I-907 form prior to that of 3 April 2017.

The Immigration Service will refund visa processing fees if:

1. The applicant filed an I-907 for the H-1B 3 visa in April 2017;
2. The service did not receive a court decision on the case during the processing period (15 calendar days).

Temporary suspension of visa issuance does not apply to other types of non-immigrant visas filed on the I-129 form.

Fast Track Request

Now that the stop date for accepting H-1B visa applications has become known, applicants can apply to accelerate the visa issuance process if they meet the criteria specified in Criteria Expedite. In addition to meeting the criteria, applicants must prove the need for expedited processing.

The Immigration Service reviews all expedited processing requests on an individual basis and at the discretion of management.

Why suspend premium processing for visa H-1B

Temporary suspension will help reduce the overall processing time for the H-1B visa. In addition, the immigration service will be able to:

• Process applications that are pending for a significant amount of time and which the service cannot approve due to the large volume of applications over the past few years;
• Priority will be given to court decisions extending the H-1B visa.

Visa type H-1B gives the right to enter the United States and permanently reside in the country. They are of different types: working, student, tourist - and are issued for a certain period, after which a person must leave the country. These visas are issued to qualified employees who have at least bachelor status and 12 years of experience. They are also issued on the lottery principle: in 2016, 85 thousands of available visas were claimed by 236 thousands of people.

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