In a surprise announcement on March 3, 2017, USCIS advised that it will suspend its premium processing service for all H-1B petitions starting April 3, 2017.\u00a0 April 3, 2017 is the earliest date that U.S. employers can file cap subject H-1B petitions for FY 2018, which begins on October 1, 2017.\u00a0 The suspension applies to both cap subject and cap exempt H-1B petitions.\u00a0 USCIS\u2019 premium processing program offers H-1B employers the option of having a 15 calendar day case adjudication for payment of a $1,225.00 fee.\u00a0 No other nonimmigrant classification eligible to use the premium processing service is affected by this suspension.<\/p>\n
U.S. employers can still request and USCIS will continue to accept requests to expedite H-1B cases based on severe financial loss to a company or a person, emergency situations, humanitarian reasons, or other reasons.\u00a0 In practice, though, USCIS approves only a small number of such requests.<\/p>\n