Premium processing for all fiscal year (FY) 2019 H-1B cap petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap), restarted on Monday, January 28, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Petitioners who have received requests for evidence (RFEs) for pending FY 2019 cap petitions should include their RFE response with any request for premium processing they may submit.
When a petitioner requests the agency’s 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, the agency refunds the petitioner’s premium processing service fee and continues with expedited processing of the petition.
The previously announced temporary suspension of premium processing remains in effect for all other categories of H-1B petitions to which it applied. USCIS said it plans “to resume premium processing for the remaining categories of H‑1B petitions as agency workloads permit.”
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