October 19, 2020
Premium Processing Fee Increase Effective Oct. 19, 2020
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This message is meant only for those clients who have a pending or upcoming filing that is eligible for premium processing, such as H-1B, L-1 and certain I-140 immigrant petitions. If that does not apply to you, you may ignore this message.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that, effective October 19, 2020, the premium processing fee for all cases will increase from $1,440 to $2,500, except those from petitioners requesting H-2B or R-1 nonimmigrant status, which will increase from $1,440 to $1,500. Any premium processing request that is postmarked on or after October 19, 2020 must include the new fee.
Currently, only non-immigrant petitions filed using Form I-129 and certain I-140 immigrant petitions are eligible for premium processing. Although a new law signed on October 1, 2020 has authorized USCIS to expand premium processing to other categories, including national interest waiver immigrant petitions and EAD applications, USCIS has not yet expanded premium processing for such categories. Therefore, this announcement means that although the premium processing fees are increasing as of October 19 for cases that are already eligible for premium processing services, no expansion of premium processing to new categories has been announced yet.