Government to Increase Fee for Premium Processing of Applications

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that beginning December 2, 2019 it is increasing the fee to request premium processing for certain employment-based petitions. The government fee will increase from $1,410 to $1,440. USCIS last increased the fee in 2018.Premium processing is an optional service for employers applying for a designated temporary work status or immigrant visa petition. Premium processing allows employers to request from the government 15-day processing of these forms if they pay an extra fee. The premium processing fee is paid in addition to the base government filing fee and any other applicable fees. We will work with our clients to file these petitions before the fee hike where possible.