The Duane Morris Immigration Team is dedicated to providing the most up to date information and zealous advocacy on behalf of our clients during the COVID-19 emergency. We have compiled information from various U.S. agencies on all aspects of travel, USCIS appointments, ICE activities and Removal Proceedings.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris partner Valentine Brown, which will be updated as changes develop, please visit the Duane Morris Immigration Blog.
USCIS announced at 2:19 PM on 3/20/2020 that Premium Processing services for I-129 (E-1, E-2, H-1B, H-2B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, R-1, TN-1 and TN-2.) and I-140 (EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3) is suspended temporarily. Like many of us, USCIS service center operations have gone remote, so it is impossible for the agency to keep up with the demand for premium processing of applications.
In its announcement, USCIS indicates that it will attempt to adjudicate all petitions filed with the premium processing service before March 20, 2020 within the 15 -day time frame, but if that is not possible, it will refund premium processing fees. For applications not yet accepted, USCIS will accept the petition for regular processing, but reject the Premium Processing request and return the $1440 filing fee to petitioners.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris partner Valentine Brown, please visit the Duane Morris Immigration Law Blog.
