USCIS Announces Expansion of Premium Processing for EB-1 and EB-2 Form I-140 Petitions

On January 12, 2023, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the upcoming implementation of its final phase of premium processing expansion for Form I-140 petitions under the classifications of EB-1 multinational executive and manager and EB-2 advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking national interest waiver (NIW). Starting January 30, 2023, this phase will apply to newly filed petitions, unlike prior phases of the expansion only applicable to petitions already pending with USCIS.

This will come as welcome news to petitioners who have become accustomed to lengthy processing times, currently estimated at around one year for EB-1 and EB-2 filings. Importantly, unlike Form I-129 nonimmigrant and other Form I-140 classification petitions that carry a premium processing timeline of 15 calendar days, EB-1 multinational executives and managers and EB-2 NIW premium processing will have a 45-calendar day processing timeline.

Looking ahead, USCIS also added in its announcement that premium processing will also be expanded to F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and STEM OPT employment authorization in March and April, and to certain student and exchange visitors filing Form I-539, Applications to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status in May and June.

Stay tuned for the latest on this and other news from the MPC immigration team as we closely monitor updates and for any other significant changes in US and Canadian immigration!