Premium Processing to be Extended to Certain I-140, I-539 and I-765 Filings
June 15, 2006

For the past few years, companies seeking to employ foreign workers in a variety of temporary work visa categories (including H-1B, L-1 and R-1) have had the option to pay an extra $1,000 filing fee in order to have their visa petition processed in 15 days or less. This process, known as premium processing, will soon be available for most categories of I-140 immigrant worker petitions (effective August 28, 2006, available for most EB-3 professionals and skilled workers), I-539 applications to change or extend nonimmigrant visa status (such as to extend B-1/B-2 visitor status, or change from visitor to F-1 student status) and I-765 – applications for Employment Authorization Document. As soon as CIS announces the availability of premium processing for these categories of filings, the news will be provided in this column.