The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides fast processing for Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. If your petitioner pays for premium processing, the USCIS guarantees that it will process the petition within 15 calendar days or refund the service fee.

How it works is that the petitioner (usually your employer) files Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service. Upon proper receipt of the form and filling fee, the USCIS will issue an approval notice, a denial notice, a notice of intent to deny or a request for evidence, or open an investigation. If the agency asks for additional information, the 15-day processing period begins when they receive a complete response to their request.

Premium processing is available for most visa types, including E-1, E-2, H-1B, L-1A, L-1B, O-1, R-1, TN-1 and TN-2, along with EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 (in most cases).

Can I pay for the premium processing as the beneficiary of the petition?

You can but, in most cases, you cannot sign or file Form I-907. The petitioner of their official representative must request premium processing for you. You can only make the request when you are both the petitioner and the beneficiary.

Premium processing fees rose on Oct. 19

Now, however, the USCIS has increased the fee for premium processing. For those filing Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) and most of those filing Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker), the fee just rose from $1,440 to $2,500.

For those filing Form I-129 (Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker) who are requesting H-2B or R-1 visas, the fee just rose from $1,440 to $1,500.

If you have questions about a visa or premium processing, contact Yew Immigration Law Group. We have years of experience helping people come to work in the U.S., and attorney Alison Yew is a board certified specialist in immigration law.