Starting September 25, 2006, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security added three new categories of employment-based petitions for permanent residence (I-140 petitions) to its premium processing program:

  • EB-1, Outstanding Professors and Researchers;
  • EB-2, Members of the Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability Aliens Not Seeking a National Interest Waiver;
  • EB-3, Other Workers (i.e., workers other than Skilled Workers or Professionals).

The USCIS had previously expanded the premium processing program on August 22, 2006 to include petitions filed by employers for EB-3, Professionals and Skilled Workers. With the addition of these categories, premium processing is now available for most employment-based petitions.

Premium processing allows a U.S. business to pay a $1,000 fee for 15-calendar-day processing of its case. The USCIS guarantees that within that period, it will issue an approval notice; request for further evidence; or, when appropriate, a notice of intent to deny or open an investigation for fraud and misrepresentation. The request for premium processing is made by filing Form I-907 accompanied by the $1,000 and the underlying petition and regular filing fee.

Employment-based petitions are made in various categories called "preferences." There are five preferences, some of which have sub-categories. For example, EB-1 (employment-based first preference) includes the sub-categories of persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; and multi-national executives or managers. USCIS's recent expansion of the premium processing program includes only one of these preference sub-categories, outstanding professors and researchers.

Although the expanded service will allow for faster processing of many employment- based petitions, it will not necessarily lead to an earlier granting of permanent resident status. Workers submit applications for such status to the USCIS or at U.S. consulates based on employment-based petitions filed by their current or prospective employers. There are backlogs of several years for such worker applications in some of the preference sub-categories included in the premium processing program, but not all. For example, there is currently no backlog for EB-1 outstanding professors and researchers. In this preference subcategory, the employer's petition and the worker's application can be filed concurrently. If submitted under the premium processing program, the USCIS would act upon the employer's petition within 15 calendar days. Presumably, this would lead to faster processing of the worker's application as well though the USCIS has not issued any guarantees or promises in that regard.

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