Effective October 19, 2020 the premium processing fee will be $2,500 for premium processing requests on H-1B Petitions, I-140 cases and other types of employment petitions, as authorized by the Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act signed into law on October 1, 2020.
For more information, see USCIS’s October 16, 2020 announcement. Prior to October 19, 2020, the premium processing fee had been set at $1,440 since December 2, 2019 by 84 FR 58303.
UA International Student & Scholar Services has updated its H-1B Packet and pages with the updated Premium Processing fee. Please use the most recent H-1B Packet when processing filing fee requests for H-1Bs going forward.
UPDATE:
On December 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgement, and set aside both the Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security interim final rules. This blocks both rules from being enforced or implemented. Read the court’s order and judgement, which found that the agencies did not have just cause to promulgate the rules without notice and comment. The case is Chamber of Commerce et al. v. DHS et al., Case No. 4:20-CV-7331 (N.D. Ca., October 19, 2020).
BACKGROUND:
On October 8, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) published an interim final rule (IFR) titled Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States.
The rule changes how DOL computes Level I through Level IV wage rates when it uses Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) wage data to make a National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) prevailing wage determination or to certify an LCA that relies on OES wage data.
The interim final rule went into effect on the date of publication, October 8, 2020.
In short, the rule meant that official prevailing wages which we use for H-1B petitions and which are required for labor-based Permanent Residency/Green Card filings was higher for many positions.
With the court decision on December 1 striking the rule down, it means that going forward, UA can rely on previous prevailing wages that were in effect prior to October 8, and can rest assured knowing that H-1B regulations won’t prohibit our sponsorship of staff or faculty positions.
UPDATE:
On December 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgement, and set aside both the Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security interim final rules. This blocks both rules from being enforced or implemented. Read the court’s order and judgement, which found that the agencies did not have just cause to promulgate the rules without notice and comment. The case is Chamber of Commerce et al. v. DHS et al., Case No. 4:20-CV-7331 (N.D. Ca., October 19, 2020).
BACKGROUND:
On October 8, 2020, DHS published an interim final rule (IFR) titled Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program.
The new rule would have gone into effect on December 7, 2020.
Changes include revised definitions of and standards for a “specialty occupation” that make use of the H-1B category for staff positions more challenging.
This rule amends the definition of a “specialty occupation” at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(ii) to clarify that there must be a direct relationship between the required degree field(s) and the duties of the position.
Additionally, the rule changes the qualification as a “specialty occupation” to require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree for all positions.
The changes would have impacted future filings, extensions, and amendments of H-1Bs. The primary impact would have been to our ability to sponsor non-teaching staff positions in the future.
With the court decision on December 1 striking the rule down, it means that going forward, UA can rely on previous prevailing wages that were in effect prior to October 8, and can rest assured knowing that H-1B regulations won’t prohibit our sponsorship of staff or faculty positions.
