If you had an H-1B petition filed on or before December 21, 2018, premium processing will be available for your H-1B petition. USCIS announced it will resume premium processing on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 for all H-1B petitions filed on or before December 21, 2018.

However, H-1B petitions filed after December 22, 2018 are still not eligible for premium processing. USCIS plans to resume premium processing for remaining categories of H-1B petitions sometime in the future. Previously, USCIS resumed premium processing for FY 2019 cap-subject petitions, including advanced degree exemption.

When an H-1B petitioner properly requests premium processing service, USCIS guarantees a 15-day processing time. If USCIS does not take certain adjudicative action within the 15‑calendar day processing time, USCIS will refund the premium processing service fee and continue with the expedited processing of the petition.

If you have any questions about the new H-1B rule, please feel free to contact our firm.

Updated 02/18/2019