By: Gurshaan Chattha

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is expanding the premium processing program to include certain Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker under certain the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications. Currently the expansion only applies to previously filed Form I-140s. USCIS will not accept new Form I-140s with premium processing requests.

Premium processing will only be accepted for certain Form I-140 petitions that were previously filed under the following classifications:

• E13: Multinational executive and manager.
• E21: Professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking a national interest waiver (NIW).

Petitioners looking to apply for premium processing must submit Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service. A new version of Form I-907 dated May 31, 2022 reflects the new guidelines. [1] During June 2022, USCIS will accept both the new form, dated May 31, 2022, and the prior version, dated September 30, 2020. However, beginning on July 1, 2022, USCIS will automatically reject the older version of the form.

implementation timeline

USCIS will implement the expansion in two phases:

1. June 1, 2022: This phase will include Form I-907 for E13 multinational executive and manager petitions that were received on or before January 1, 2021.
2. July 1, 2022: This phase covers Form I-908 requests for E21 NIW and E13 multinational executive and manager petitions that were received on or before March 1, 2021.

Premium processing requests filed before the applicable start date will be automatically rejected.

conclusion

USCIS will continue to issue new guidelines and expand premium processing for certain forms to reduce the backlogs currently plaguing the immigration system. The Chugh, LLP immigration team will continue to provide updates as they become available. For assistance in filing a premium processing request, contact your Chugh, LLP immigration professional.