Updated March 19, 2019
On March 11, 2019, USCIS announced that it would resume Premium Processing Service for all H-1B petitions, effective on March 12, 2019. The USCIS news alert is posted here. Two days later, USCIS clarified via AILA liaison that H-1B cap/lottery petitions were not covered by the March 11 announcement.
On March 19, 2019, USCIS announced that for H-1B cap filings, PPS is only available for those petitions filed concurrently with requests for change of status (COS). Petitions for consular notifications may not request premium processing. USCIS will announce at a future date when consular notification petitions, along with PPS upgrades for non-concurrent COS requests, may file PPS requests. USCIS’s news alert, which also announced a new data hub to be available as of April 1, 2019, is posted here.
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