To avail of the service, the applicant (either an individual petitioner or an employer) needs to file Form I-907 and include a fee that (as of 2021) is $1,500 for the H-2B and R classifications and $2,500 for all others.
[6][7] On December 21, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed an amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act that added the subsection:[6] The Attorney General is authorized to establish and collect a premium fee for employment-based petitions and applications.
The Attorney General may adjust this fee according to the Consumer Price Index.The 2000 legislative amendment did not explicitly define “Premium Processing”; therefore, the INS used its authority under Section 103(a) of the Act to establish the details of this new service, such as the processing timeframe (15 calendar days) and the Standard Operating Procedures.
[6][8] Premium Processing Service was activated for the majority of Form I-129 categories on June 1, and for the rest on July 30.
[12] Here is the history of fee changes: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the USCIS announced on March 20, 2020 that Premium Processing Service would be suspended for all petitions (for both Form I-129 and I-140) effective immediately, and any requests not already accepted would be returned, along with the payment being returned.
Already submitted requests for Premium Processing would be refunded if the USCIS failed to take action on the case within the promised 15-day period.
[17] On May 29, 2020, USCIS announced a phased resumption of Premium Processing through June 2020 as follows:[18] On March 20, 2018, USCIS announced that it would suspend, until September 10, 2018, Premium Processing for all petitions subject to the Fiscal Year 2019 cap (in particular, this would not include transfer petitions or extensions).
[21][22] On Friday, March 3, 2017, USCIS announced that starting Monday, April 3, 2017, Premium Processing would be suspended for all H-1B petitions, and the suspension could last up to six months.
In addition to the annual suspension of the Premium Processing Service for cap-subject petitions as described above, USCIS has also temporarily suspended Premium Processing Service for other types of applications in order to preserve resources for other kinds of increased caseloads.
[1][48] Since applying for Premium Processing does not provide any preferential treatment to applicants,[1][2] commentators have claimed that the main reason companies are willing to pay these fees is because the faster turnarounds allow them and their prospective employees to plan next steps more effectively.
He suggested that rather than allowing the INS to treat these fees as cash cows, the United States legislature should identify clearer, more limited mandates for the agency along with a plan to fund them.
[7] On his personal blog The Asylumist, lawyer Jason Dzubow has mooted the idea of extending premium processing to asylum applications, so that the influx of funds could help the USCIS spend more resources to clear a huge backlog of cases.
[50] The USCIS itself came up with proposals in August 2011 that would allow Premium Processing Service requests for EB-5 investor applications (made on Form I-526) for projects that were fully developed and ready to go.