Congress Passes Emergency Bill that Expands USCIS Premium Processing and Increases Fees

On the evening of September 30, 2020, President Trump signed into law an appropriations bill that includes, among other provisions, an increase in premium processing fees and expansion of the premium processing service to additional types of immigration applications that were not previously accorded that option. This legislation seeks to increase the revenue of USCIS, which has recently claimed it’s experiencing a budget shortfall.

The premium processing fee will be increased from $1,440 to $2,500 for categories that are already able to utilize premium processing. This would include: H-1Bs, L-1s, E-1s and E-2s, O-1s, TNs, EB-2 & EB-3 I-140 petitions, and some EB-1 I-140 Petitions. Additionally, USCIS can expand the premium processing option to include I-765 employment authorization applications (EADs), nonimmigrant dependent applications (such as H-4s and L-2s) , all EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 I-140 Petitions and associated applications for dependents, and applications to change nonimmigrant status (I-539).

Note, the legislation clarifies that the premium processing clock will start only when USCIS receives all required materials for adjudication. It is left to be seen exactly how this specific provision will be implemented and executed.

While this appropriations bill will take effect immediately, there have not been any updates directly from USCIS as of yet. We expect some guidance from USCIS relatively soon regarding this fee increase. The most immediate action expected is the increase in fee from $1,440 to $2,500 for those applications that are already permitted to use the premium processing service such as H-1B, L-1s, and I-140 Petitions.

The expansion of the premium processing service to the additional categories is expected to take some additional time to be implemented as it will require actual rule changes.

The team at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC is currently monitoring these developments and will provide updates as they become available.