On October 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its regulations for wages paid to certain foreign workers with the named purpose of higher protecting the roles and wages of U.S. workers. The new wages were applicable as of October 7, 2020 at 7:00 pm.
On 30/09/2020, the Continuing Appropriations Act 2021 (HR 8337) was signed into law to continue to fund the Government through 11/12/2020. The Act included language permitting the USCIS to expand premium processing services to other application types. To date, premium processing has only been available for some I-140 petitions and nonimmigrant petitions filed using Form I-129 (H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, etc.)
The increased fees and expanded availability of premium processing will not take effect until USCIS is able to implement. Timing of implementation is unknown at this time. A public announcement is expected that would provide more details and a timeline for implementation.
- Immediately give USCIS access to premium processing funds to pay for operational expenses, which are otherwise reserved for infrastructure improvements.
- Authorize premium processing services to be available for:
- Employment-based nonimmigrant petitions and associated applications for dependents
- Form I-140 petitions (EB1, EB2 & EB3)
- Form I-539
- Form I-765 and
- Any other immigration benefit type deemed appropriate by the USCIS. [We will need to wait for more clarification on what this will include.
- Increase the premium processing fee for benefit requests that are already eligible for premium processing services from $1,440 to $2,500.
- Require rulemaking to set fees for expanded premium processing services, but it must be consistent with the following:
- EB-1 petitions for Multinational Managers and Executives or EB-2 NIW petitions – fee is no greater than $2,500 and processing time is no greater than 45 days.
- Change of status requests for F, J and M – fee is no greater than $1,750 and processing time is no greater than 30 days.
- Change of status requests for dependents seeking E, H, L, O – fee is no greater than $1,750 and processing time is no greater than 30 days.
- Form I-765 – fee is no greater than $1,750 and processing time is no greater than 30 days.
- Allow for a biennial adjustment of premium processing fees based on the Consumer Price Index without rulemaking.
- Clarify that the processing time clock does not begin until “all prerequisites for adjudication are received” by USCIS.
- Ensure that providing expanded premium processing services does not result in an increase in processing times for other benefit applications.
- Require a semi-annual congressional briefing and that within 180 days, USCIS will provide a 5- plan on establishing:
- Electronic filing procedures for all applications and petitions
- Acceptance of electronic filing at all locations and
- Issuance of all correspondence and notices electronically.
***
If you have any questions or concerns about the information provided above, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Luke Bowman
The Law offices of Luke Bowman