FSVS ALERT: H-1B Premium Processing Suspended for 6 Months
On Friday, March 3rd, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a memo informing the public that it will suspend Premium Processing services for H-1B cases effective April 3rd, for six months, resuming October 1st. It specifically mentions that the suspension will also apply to cap-exempt employers, such as USC.
Without Premium Processing, regular processing can take 9-12 months.
TYPES OF CASES AFFECTED
- Consular Processing: This is where the foreign national (FN) is waiting outside the USA to enter in H-1B status.
- Changes of Status to H-1B: Typically from F-1 OPT, or J-1. This requires that we obtain an H-1B approval notice in order to set up the individual on USC Payroll.
Types of H-1B cases not critically affected: Extensions, Amendments, and Changes of Employer. These have protective rules that allow the person to be in the USA and on USC payroll during government processing.
However, we note that many individuals are making plans to travel over the summer. Without an H-1B approval notice, they may not be able to re-enter the USA timely for fall semester. They should factor this into their plans.
PROCEDURES
To minimize the impact to our hiring departments, FSVS is taking the following measures:
- Requests currently in our processing queue, and/or received by 4:30 pm, Friday, March 10th: We will make every effort to file these cases before April 3rd. Note that premium processing cases submitted before April 3rd might be refunded if the USCIS cannot take action in the 15-day processing period.
- Requests received by FSVS after 4:30 pm Friday, March 10th: These will be filed as quickly as possible. However, we cannot guarantee that these will meet the April 3rd filing deadline, even with our best efforts.
- Cases that are filed after April 3rd: Will all be filed with a request for “Expedited Processing” (EP) attached. The USCIS can apply EP at their discretion, evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We cannot guarantee that any specific case submitted with an EP request will, in fact, be expedited. We also cannot guarantee that where EP is granted, that it will happen in a specific timeframe.
We will continue to require that hiring departments provide a check for the premium processing fee. This will allow us to immediately resume requesting premium processing services should the order be relaxed in coming weeks, or on October 1st, whichever comes first.
ALTERNATIVE VISA STRATEGIES
- J-1 Exchange Scholar Visas: May be useful for: Some instructional positions (RTPC), Research staff, Research faculty.
- F-1 OPT: All candidates who are graduating this spring should be encouraged to apply for OPT. We routinely suggest this to ease the logistics of transitioning to H-1B, but doing so will be crucial this year.
- O-1 Extraordinary Ability Visa: May work for some advanced, mid-to-late career people with a body of accomplishment that qualifies. Tenured, and some Tenure-Track candidates may be able to use this, but these cases regularly take 4-6 months to prepare, limiting the strategic usefulness of this category.
- TN Trade NAFTA Professional Visa: May be useful for Canadian and Mexican nationals in positions that qualify on the treaty appendix list.
- E-3 Australian Professional Visa: May be useful for Australians in professional positions that qualify.
CONCLUSION
While FSVS is taking what steps it can, the short timeframe in which we have to act will limit what we can do in the face of this announcement. We will work long hours, work quickly and diligently, and pursue advocacy efforts through our professional groups and the USC Washington DC office.
It is our hope that, in informing hiring departments and individuals about this situation, we can all work together to better plan and strategize the affected cases.
Thank you for your assistance and cooperation.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Gilman
Director, Faculty/Staff Visa Services