Premium processing of H-1B cap-subject petitions will begin on April 28, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced. This will include petitions seeking an exemption from the cap for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher.

Last month, USCIS projected that the large volume of petitions would delay premium processing until April 28 at the latest. The agency announced at the end of the first week of filing that 172,500 H-1B petitions had been filed for FY 2015, which begins Oct. 1. Premium processing guarantees expedited processing in 15 calendar days.

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