| Premium processing of certain employment-based immigrant petitions |
| published 12 September 2006 |
| The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun accepting certain employment-based I-140 immigrant petitions for premium processing. Under premium processing, for an additional processing fee of $1,000, the USCIS will to either approve, deny, or issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) within 15 calendar days of receiving the I-140 petition. Only I-140 immigrant petitions for the employment-based 3rd preference (EB-3) Professionals and Skilled Workers category will be accepted for premium processing at this time. Additional types of I-140 immigrant petitions will be accepted for premium processing at a later date. USCIS has stated that certain EB-3 petitions will not be accepted for premium processing at this time. EB-3 I-140 petitions not eligible for premium processing include: A second filing of a Form I-140 petition while an initial Form I-140 remains pending; Labor Certification substitution requests; and duplicate Labor Certification requests (i.e., cases filed without an original labor certification from the Department of Labor). These petitions are not being accepted for premium processing because of their special processing requirements, which can include locating and transferring other files or documents internally and requesting initial evidence from an outside agency. These extra activities make it unduly difficult for USCIS to guarantee processing the case within a 15 calendar day period. |
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