For an additional filing fee, certain applicants seeking certain employment-based visas and change of status to certain nonimmigrant visa classifications can file for expedited adjudication. Disappointingly, in conjunction with the April 1, 2024 filing fee increase, USCIS made a significant change to premium processing requests, promising adjudication of certain eligible applications in business days, rather than calendar days.

For example, under this new change, an H-1B petition filed with a request for premium processing can now take up to three weeks for a decision with premium processing, rather than two. Employers and beneficiaries should be aware of how this change may affect an employee’s ability to begin the onboarding process or transfer employers.

This policy, which was promulgated concurrently with filing fee increases, is a disappointing development. Given that USCIS is charging significantly more money for most of its applications, applicants should expect more efficient service from the agency, rather than slower adjudication times.