On January 12, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced implementation of the final phase of premium processing expansion for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications.
Unlike previous phases of the expansion, this phase applies to new (initial) petitions, in addition to all previously filed Form I-140 petitions under an EB-1C (E13) multinational executive and manager classification or EB-2 (E21) classification seeking a national interest waiver (NIW).
Beginning Jan. 30, 2023, USCIS will accept Form I-907 requests for:
All pending E13 multinational executive and manager petitions and E21 NIW petitions; and
All initial E13 multinational executive and manager petitions and E21 NIW petitions.
USCIS also announced future expansion of premium processing to F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training. In March, USCIS intends to expand premium processing to certain F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and STEM OPT extensions who have a pending Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. In April, USCIS will expand premium processing to F-1 students seeking OPT and STEM OPT extensions who are filing an initial Form I-765. USCIS plans to announce specific dates for each group in February.
USCIS also announced that it continues to work toward premium processing availability for Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. The Service anticipates expanding premium processing for certain student and exchange visitors with pending Form I-539 applications in May and those filing initial Form I-539 applications in June.