Suspension of I-140 Premium Processing Continues
Posted Aug 03, 2007
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On July 24, 2007, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an indefinite extension of the suspension of the premium processing service for Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker). As MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers were informed in our July 6, 2007 article, USCIS Suspends I-140 Premium Processing : July 2007, the USCIS initially announced that the premium processing service for Form I-140 would be suspended during the month of July 2007, in anticipation of a substantial increase in I-140 premium processing requests. At that time, the suspension was set to expire on August 1, 2007. The suspension is now indefinite; until further notice from the USCIS.
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Premium Processing Service
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Premium Processing Service guarantees that, in exchange for an additional fee of $1000, the USCIS will review a petition within 15 calendar days of receipt. They do not have to make a final decision within that timeframe. The USCIS has the option, under premium processing, to issue an approval or denial notice, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence, or open an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation.
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Suspension ONLY of I-140 Petitions until Further Notice
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Presumably, this extension of the I-140 premium processing suspension was initially attributable to the large volume of I-485 filings expected under the terms of the July 2007 Visa Bulletin. The USCIS has indicated that the premium processing service suspension will continue until further notice, as the USCIS will continue to evaluate whether it is able to process these cases within 15 calendar days. Until then, the premium processing service is unavailable for Form I-140. This suspension of I-140 petitions DOES NOT affect other petitions, such as H1B, L-1, or other nonimmigrant petitions that are allowed to continue to utilize the premium processing service.