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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted its new premium processing regulation for public inspection today, unveiling a plan to make additional benefit categories eligible for the service in the coming months and years.
Key Points:
Additional Information: USCIS announced the premium processing rule as part of a broader package of initiatives to reduce backlogs and provide relief to foreign nationals affected by processing delays. USCIS recently sent a final rule for White House review that would temporarily increase the automatic extension period for certain EAD renewal applicants. The text of this rule is not yet available. USCIS is also working on hiring more officers and improving case processing technology, with the goal of shorter adjudication time frames. The COVID-19 pandemic and funding and staffing issues have exacerbated backlogs across visa categories, and USCIS officials have said reducing wait times is one of the agency’s top priorities.
BAL Analysis: The extension of premium processing to additional benefit categories will shorten processing times for eligible applicants who pay the applicable fee. USCIS will begin extending premium processing this year; however, some benefit categories will not have premium processing until FY 2025. This is because under law, USCIS must ensure that its implementation or expansion of premium processing does not result in an increase in processing times for other immigration benefit requests. BAL will continue monitoring the implementation of the premium processing regulation and other initiatives to ease immigration processing and will update clients as information becomes available.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
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