11 ms·

USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend Premium Processing for All H-1B Petitions

251 points by analyst74 10y ago

joche 10y ago
Is this supension for h1b new petitions or extensions as well?
joche 10y ago
Hi all, is this applicable to new h1b petitions or extensions as well?
rrggrr 10y ago
The insanity of the immigration debate is the amount of jobs that will be lost to automation, consolidation and decreased domestic investment. The wage gains and skill gaps that will result from decreased immigration (legal or illegal) are going to force companies to alternatives. Yes, wages will rise. Yes, there will be investment in retraining and rehabilitation of un(under)employed. It will not be enough. Its popular with Trump's base, and I support some of Trump's policies. It may even prove to be a price worth paying for a short time. Long run its pure stupidity.
- nojvek 10y ago
  There's always the opportunity cost. What if the next Steve Jobs, Sergey, page or any number of immigrants who started successful companies don't come to US but go somewhere else. Making the world scared of coming to US can have irreversible effects.
  - ejanus 10y ago
    The is a weak argument. Nobody holds the spirit of capitalism.... People already in the US are jobless...so the state has to get them back to work. I am not a US citizen, but I feel sorry for poor and jobless Americans.
  - briandear 10y ago
    Steve Jobs wasn't an immigrant. Using Steve Jobs as some kind of H1B argument is silly. This is a false equivalency. H1 visas are not about importing the next Sergey; the vast, vast majority are about filling skilled jobs at lower wages than the current supply of workers in the US would support. Some world renowned robotics or AI engineer doesn't need an H1, s/he can apply for an EB visa. H1 visa restrictions aren't 'harming' anyone except companies that want to pay less than the US market currently would support. The evidence is the firing of employees at San Francisco State University in order to outsource the work to cheaper foreign labor. In San Fran State's case, there isn't a shortage -- they actually fired qualified experienced people. Thus the 'solving shortages' argument is practically bullshit. The 'shortage' exists when the desired wage is lower than the supply of those willing to work for that wage. Pretending that H1 is going to bring in the next Sergey et al -- that's just hyperbolic nonsense not supported by the statistics. The next Sergey isn't coming in on an H1 with Infosys -- ultra improbable. The EB-1 visa is designed for the future Sergeys and it's an entirely different category than H1s. Then there is the EB-2 for the highly educated and are employment based. Finally there is the EB-3 for highly skilled immigrants. H1b visas are for TEMPORARY, NON-Immigrant, workers in a specialty occupation. Considering this is Hacker News, it suprising how immigration and H1 seem to be conflated almost every time H1 is discussed. If people want to immigrate to the US, an EB is the appropriate visa for highly skilled workers. Those using the H1 as a backdoor to a green card are essentially committing fraud if their intent when getting the H1 is to ultimately qualify for permanent residency. I would argue that an H1 should never be granted residency but instead an appropriate EB visa applied for instead.
    - literallycancer 10y ago
      The EB-1 requires that the person is already successful. But why would such a person come to the US? There are better places to live, once you have enough money.
      - ejanus 10y ago
        Borland, Musk, and a host of others moved in as successful people.
    - 10y ago
rurban 10y ago
> "Why We Are Temporarily Suspending Premium Processing for H-1B Petitions > This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing times. Yes!
JumpCrisscross 10y ago
What does "premium" processing mean?
- rb2k_ 10y ago
  You pay money, they process it in 2-3 weeks or you get your money back.
- vosper 10y ago
  It's companies paying an extra fee (around $1000 I think) to have expedited processing of applications. It means you're guaranteed a response (for or against) in a shorter period of time, I think 14 days. It's commonly used, in my experience.
- nkkollaw 10y ago
  Expedite, seems like.
  - iNate2000 10y ago
    It looks like they still support "expedite criteria"[1] Perhaps "premium processing" is expedited without a justification. [1] https://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria https://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria
- Sanddancer 10y ago
  Pay to play. You pay more, you jump to the front of the line. This will the let USCIS work through the backlog.
- untog 10y ago
  Basically it means that you get bumped up in the queue. Which when you think about it is really a very odd feature to add to a government (i.e. non-profit generating) service.
  - mywittyname 10y ago
    It's a good way to deal with scarcity. And scarcity is definitely an issue when the government agency in question doesn't necessarily have the resources available to them to actually perform at the level that they need to due to funding and political football. Paying a premium for expedited service is fine (I'm sure you've paid USPS a few extra bucks to mail your package faster), but I do agree that it should be applied judiciously.
randomname2 10y ago
Summary of why it's temporarily suspended: "This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be able to: Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years; and Prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240 day mark. "
- klipt 10y ago
  > Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years You'd think the $1,225 paid for every premium processing request would allow them to hire more people to tackle the backlog, but I guess not, maybe they just reroute that money elsewhere :P
  - itchyjunk 10y ago
    USCIS is under department of homeland security now. Possibly where it is rerouted too. The cost of all applications have gone up by a fairly large amount imho since the DOJ days. I looked into this when I was trying to figure out the costs for my own application some time ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Citizenship_and_Immigration_Services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Citizenship_and_...
  - ojbyrne 10y ago
    As I understand it, USCIS (though not ICE or CBP) is subject to the current federal hiring freeze.
  - ams6110 10y ago
    I'd think the $1,225 paid would be allowing them to hire more people to expedite the premium processing. You can't offer premium processing without additional processing capacity. For a while you might get away with just moving premium requests to the front of the queue, but that breaks down after a certain point and in order to meet whatever timeline they are promising, they will need to have the capacity to handle all the premium applications within that time.
mozumder 10y ago
It would be a lot easier and economically beneficial to just have open borders. What would it take to turn Mexico and Canada into our 51st & 52nd states? So there aren't border controls or inspections there?
- SwellJoe 10y ago
  Convincing ~50% of Americans that Mexicans don't want to steal their jobs, rape their wives/daughters, or give their kids drugs. I'm on your team, but we've got a long way to go to get America ready for open borders, even with our nearest neighbors that are longtime trading partners and allies.
  - mozumder 10y ago
    Well I suppose we can expect some inflation due to the costs of losing Mexican migrant labor. That could be a start to convince Americans that we need these kinds of open borders. But I guess a real open-borders system would require things like common currencies or common judicial system across North America?
    - DaUR 10y ago
      > would require things like common currencies That would be a disaster, and would hurt the dollar and therefore US NatSec and power. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimum_currency_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimum_currency_area
      - mozumder 10y ago
        That doesn't actually state that North America isn't an optimal currency area.
        DaUR 10y ago
        You're supposed to look at what an optimal currency area is, and see if it applies. Don't just take Wikipedia's opinion for it. It's not. Cultural, language differences, asymmetric shocks, many reasons why. It would be the same catastrophe as the euro, where the euro is severely undervalued for Germany's economy, unfairly helping their exports, and severely overvalued for Greece, unfairly harming their exports.
pavanky 10y ago
Before anyone jumps the gun, this has happened previously in 2015 too: https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-temporarily-suspends-premium-processing-extension-stay-h-1b-petitions https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-temporarily-suspends...
- doingmyting 10y ago
  The difference is that the 2015 version had a definite date it would come back online. This time there is a hand-wavy "may last up to 6 months". I doubt we'll see PP for H1Bs again.
- pj_mukh 10y ago
  I wish more headlines came with caveats like this one. In just as bold lettering. The last couple of months has not been great for the mitigation of clickbait.
  - johncolanduoni 10y ago
    IMHO the real disclaimer that is needed is an explanation of what premium processing is. Not being able to pay to put your application towards the top of the pile is likely not the first image that title invokes for many people.
    - pavanky 10y ago
      You are not the target audience. It is a press release on a immigration website for immigrants who already know what this means.
      - johncolanduoni 10y ago
        Of course, I'm not arguing with the USCIS's choice of title (I have heard of premium processing before, though I'm not an immigrant). But it would be nice if when this hit public media there would be some effort to explain that term (though I'm not remotely optimistic about that).
      - 10y ago
tn13 10y ago
Wolf in the sheep's clothing. When GovernMint says something you should look for whats hidden in the policy. 1. So if I want to change companies now I have to wait for few months to get the new petition in hand. Tell me I can't travel to my home country during this period! This is essentially friction to job changing. This is clearly against the current administration's policy of Murica first and no to cheap labor. 2. On OPT ? Wait for unknown period of time to know if H1B gets picked in lottery or if it gets approved. Better go home. 3. So far FB, Google etc are always happy doing premium processing where as cheapo Indian companies avoided it. This is another big boost to cheap labor importers.
- nashashmi 10y ago
  I was with you until Point number three
- mynameisvlad 10y ago
  > Wait for unknown period of time to know if H1B gets picked in lottery You find out if you were picked for the lottery at about the same time for both standard and premium.
- awa 10y ago
  Frankly, premium processing is abused. I recently switched jobs and just needed a transfer application acknowledgement to start the new job, however, the company offered to pay for premium processing and I gladly took it. Honestly, they should raise the prices to $5000 with exceptions for financial hardships(they already have this) to weed out non-essential usage of premium processing.
  - praneshp 10y ago
    "I recently switched jobs and just needed a transfer application acknowledgement" There is nothing called H1b transfer. It's a brand new application with some extra features like no lottery, no wait-till-Oct1, etc. IMO, all H1b fees should be increased by $5000 and processed in 15 days.
DaUR 10y ago
I really appreciate the transparency. This is something you don't usually see accompany government decisions. All government decisions, laws and regulations should be accompanied by a list of what the decision is supposed to accomplish, and then the media can check whether the decision was effective. Better for democracy. > Why We Are Temporarily Suspending Premium Processing for H-1B Petitions > This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be able to: > Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years; and > Prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240 day mark.
hatred 10y ago
Can anyone shed more light on what happens in the following scenario: You get terminated/leave your current job and activate the new 60 day grace period to find a new job. Provided that a H1B transfer to a new employer can take more than 60 days now. Does one need to leave the country forcefully?
- trustfundbaby 10y ago
  > and activate the new 60 day grace period to find a new job. Just FYI, this 60 day "grace" period is a bit of an unspoken rule, in reality though, you're expected to leave the US as soon as your job is terminated/visa is revoked, so make sure if you can that the terminating company doesn't revoke your visa within 45-60 days, or else you'll be in a lot of trouble, even if you find a company willing to transfer your visa in that time period.
  - caoyangs 10y ago
    > this 60 day "grace" period is a bit of an unspoken rule It is a documented rule now since Jan 2017.
    - trustfundbaby 10y ago
      source pls?
      - hatred 10y ago
        Here: https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-publishes-final-rule-certain-employment-based-immigrant-and-nonimmigrant-visa-programs https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-publishes-fin...
- pavanky 10y ago
  You can continue working for the new company from the moment they apply for the H1B transfer. But there are a few companies that do not allow this.
justicezyx 10y ago
“The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.” ― Oscar Wilde
- johncolanduoni 10y ago
  By saying "no, we don't want your money"? Really not seeing the application of that quote here.
  - tn13 10y ago
    The money you pay barely matters to USCIS. However this move directly helps those who are importing cheap labor.
    - johncolanduoni 10y ago
      Okay, but where is the expansion of the bureaucracy for its own sake? Or any expansion at all?
      - justicezyx 10y ago
        Wasn't it obvious that USCIS has not utilized modern technologies to boost efficiency, but use its own inefficiency to boost its size? Any decent large corporation of this size should handle a large number of customers with ease. That number, I guess, would be orders magnitude more than USCIS' incoming requests. You may argue the case for USCIS is more complicated. Granted that, I still think the amount of work is much larger than USCIS. [1] "USCIS consists of 19,000 federal employees and contractors working at 223 offices around the world." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Citizenship_and_Immigration_Services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Citizenship_and_...
    - DaUR 10y ago
      > The money you pay barely matters to USCIS It's literally how they fund 99% of their expenses.
jpollock 10y ago
If your process is backlogged such that you cannot handle all traffic in a cycle (covering peak and trough), refusing new traffic won't help and will only add to the backlog.
- shakehar 10y ago
  It does allow application of people who are stuck in the pipeline to be cleared faster.Granting new H1-Bs is not the only thing that USCIS does.
  - jpollock 10y ago
    Yes, and puts them right back in the same situation this time next year. The total amount of work remains unchanged.
awa 10y ago
> This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing time Overall, This is good. A lot of "regular" cases are stuck in backlog (see: http://www.aila.org/infonet/processing-time-reports/csc/2017/csc-processing-time-report-02-28-17 http://www.aila.org/infonet/processing-time-reports/csc/2017...). Ideally, you want them to increase the workforce to handle all the cases but if that's not possible this is the right response for the current situation.
NTDF9 10y ago
A new company just applied for "H-1B transfer" by premium processing this week. All I can say is wtf? I'm in a potential limbo state here because: - I am on a notice period for impending layoffs later in the month - I found a new job, did all the documentation crap and my new company filed already. Hopefully, I'll get a decision in 2 weeks - If not (say I get an RFE or get denied for the transfer), I lose my status because I couldn't transfer to the new company && my old company will lay me off, rendering my old h1b invalid - In an RFE or denial, I will have to look for a job again in 60 days. For that h1b, it'll take them 7 months to tell me if it is approved or not. I can start working for the new company while this processing is going on though - Say, I get laid off in those 7 months again. What does that mean for my status? Can I legally change to a new H1b with another company? - Say, they come after 7 months and tell me it wasn't approved, does that mean I was working illegally so far? This ambiguous and random pile of regulation over regulation sometimes makes me think, hey, it's better to just get out of this place and live somewhere else in peace. For all their talks of supporting legal immigration, US immigration process is incredibly slow, hinges on random pieces of paper and doesn't factor in that an individual can have life changing circumstances in this long duration. Life changing circumstances include marriages, family issues, health issues, lay offs etc. The only way an individual can navigate this PROLONGED bureaucracy is if they have no dependents, no family issues, no health issues, no girlfriends/boyfriends/wives/husbands...so that they can keep fighting random nonsensical regulations, RFEs and denials. Sigh!
- trustfundbaby 10y ago
  Typically all you need after filing the transfer is the receipt from USCIS to start work at the new firm. You don't have to wait for a decision, so go to your new company and set a new start date. AFAIK Its very rare to get a H1B denial or RFE, but YMMV
  - NTDF9 10y ago
    >> AFAIK Its very rare to get a H1B denial or RFE, but YMMV I have received an RFE in the past for stupid things like "Prove this fortune 500 company is real and paid you real wages". This, after having sent my paystubs and W-2s.
sim0n 10y ago
For anyone confused/concerned, the title of this thread is currently "USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend Premium Processing for All Petitions" despite only H-1Bs actually being affected. The title should probably be updated to clarify it only affects one category (H-1B).
- H4CK3RM4N 10y ago
  When I first saw this thread, it did specify H-1B in the title, not sure why is changed.
- dang 10y ago
  Whoops that was our mistake. Meant only to take out the superfluous bit at the end of "USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend Premium Processing for All H-1B Petitions – USCIS" but somehow the H1-Bs got swept up as well.
joche 10y ago
Hi all, is this applicable to new h1b petitions or extensions as well?
yogi1234 10y ago
When the suspension will be effective?
- chrisper 10y ago
  April 3rd
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
98482058 10y ago
Is it right time to swith employer(h1 b transfer)?
98482058 10y ago
Is it right time to swith employer(h1 b transfer)?
sravya123 10y ago
Does this suspension affect i-140 premium processing ?
sravya123 10y ago
Does this suspension affect i-140 premium processing?
sravya123 10y ago
Does this suspension affect i-140 premium processing?
dreamer2017 10y ago
My H1b petition got approved in January,2017. My questions are 1) Does this affect stamping? 2) Does this affect premium processing for amendment?
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
boca 10y ago
In some states, the validity of the Driver's License (DL) is aligned with the H1-B petition expiry date and I am in one of those states. My current petition expires in 4 months. Ideally my employer would have applied my H1-B extension under premium processing so that I am not without a valid DL but with this new rule, we'd have to go with regular processing and wait for the approved petition before I can get my DL extended meaning I'll be without a valid DL for some time which is a real pain. Ideally DMV should extend the DL based on the receipt for the petition but a lot of states, including the one where I am, don't do that.
muthukumarbose 10y ago
Hi, I will be completing six year by September 2017. I am hoping to get my I140 approved by June end. I was under the impression that H1B extension can be done by premium processing so that I can stay beyond my six years. But this is shocking news for me. My attorney is saying that even my H1B can't be filed in premium. Is that true ? Please advise.
maplechori 10y ago
Probably a good idea to look for work elsewhere while this administration is in office.

251 points by analyst74 10y ago

joche 10y ago

Is this supension for h1b new petitions or extensions as well?

joche 10y ago

Hi all, is this applicable to new h1b petitions or extensions as well?

rrggrr 10y ago

The insanity of the immigration debate is the amount of jobs that will be lost to automation, consolidation and decreased domestic investment. The wage gains and skill gaps that will result from decreased immigration (legal or illegal) are going to force companies to alternatives. Yes, wages will rise. Yes, there will be investment in retraining and rehabilitation of un(under)employed. It will not be enough. Its popular with Trump's base, and I support some of Trump's policies. It may even prove to be a price worth paying for a short time. Long run its pure stupidity.

nojvek 10y ago
There's always the opportunity cost. What if the next Steve Jobs, Sergey, page or any number of immigrants who started successful companies don't come to US but go somewhere else. Making the world scared of coming to US can have irreversible effects.
- ejanus 10y ago
  The is a weak argument. Nobody holds the spirit of capitalism.... People already in the US are jobless...so the state has to get them back to work. I am not a US citizen, but I feel sorry for poor and jobless Americans.
- briandear 10y ago
  Steve Jobs wasn't an immigrant. Using Steve Jobs as some kind of H1B argument is silly. This is a false equivalency. H1 visas are not about importing the next Sergey; the vast, vast majority are about filling skilled jobs at lower wages than the current supply of workers in the US would support. Some world renowned robotics or AI engineer doesn't need an H1, s/he can apply for an EB visa. H1 visa restrictions aren't 'harming' anyone except companies that want to pay less than the US market currently would support. The evidence is the firing of employees at San Francisco State University in order to outsource the work to cheaper foreign labor. In San Fran State's case, there isn't a shortage -- they actually fired qualified experienced people. Thus the 'solving shortages' argument is practically bullshit. The 'shortage' exists when the desired wage is lower than the supply of those willing to work for that wage. Pretending that H1 is going to bring in the next Sergey et al -- that's just hyperbolic nonsense not supported by the statistics. The next Sergey isn't coming in on an H1 with Infosys -- ultra improbable. The EB-1 visa is designed for the future Sergeys and it's an entirely different category than H1s. Then there is the EB-2 for the highly educated and are employment based. Finally there is the EB-3 for highly skilled immigrants. H1b visas are for TEMPORARY, NON-Immigrant, workers in a specialty occupation. Considering this is Hacker News, it suprising how immigration and H1 seem to be conflated almost every time H1 is discussed. If people want to immigrate to the US, an EB is the appropriate visa for highly skilled workers. Those using the H1 as a backdoor to a green card are essentially committing fraud if their intent when getting the H1 is to ultimately qualify for permanent residency. I would argue that an H1 should never be granted residency but instead an appropriate EB visa applied for instead.
  - literallycancer 10y ago
    The EB-1 requires that the person is already successful. But why would such a person come to the US? There are better places to live, once you have enough money.
    - ejanus 10y ago
      Borland, Musk, and a host of others moved in as successful people.
  - 10y ago

rurban 10y ago

> "Why We Are Temporarily Suspending Premium Processing for H-1B Petitions > This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing times. Yes!

JumpCrisscross 10y ago

What does "premium" processing mean?

rb2k_ 10y ago
You pay money, they process it in 2-3 weeks or you get your money back.
vosper 10y ago
It's companies paying an extra fee (around $1000 I think) to have expedited processing of applications. It means you're guaranteed a response (for or against) in a shorter period of time, I think 14 days. It's commonly used, in my experience.
nkkollaw 10y ago
Expedite, seems like.
- iNate2000 10y ago
  It looks like they still support "expedite criteria"[1] Perhaps "premium processing" is expedited without a justification. [1] https://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria https://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria
Sanddancer 10y ago
Pay to play. You pay more, you jump to the front of the line. This will the let USCIS work through the backlog.
untog 10y ago
Basically it means that you get bumped up in the queue. Which when you think about it is really a very odd feature to add to a government (i.e. non-profit generating) service.
- mywittyname 10y ago
  It's a good way to deal with scarcity. And scarcity is definitely an issue when the government agency in question doesn't necessarily have the resources available to them to actually perform at the level that they need to due to funding and political football. Paying a premium for expedited service is fine (I'm sure you've paid USPS a few extra bucks to mail your package faster), but I do agree that it should be applied judiciously.

randomname2 10y ago

Summary of why it's temporarily suspended: "This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be able to: Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years; and Prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240 day mark. "

klipt 10y ago
> Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years You'd think the $1,225 paid for every premium processing request would allow them to hire more people to tackle the backlog, but I guess not, maybe they just reroute that money elsewhere :P
- itchyjunk 10y ago
  USCIS is under department of homeland security now. Possibly where it is rerouted too. The cost of all applications have gone up by a fairly large amount imho since the DOJ days. I looked into this when I was trying to figure out the costs for my own application some time ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Citizenship_and_Immigration_Services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Citizenship_and_...
- ojbyrne 10y ago
  As I understand it, USCIS (though not ICE or CBP) is subject to the current federal hiring freeze.
- ams6110 10y ago
  I'd think the $1,225 paid would be allowing them to hire more people to expedite the premium processing. You can't offer premium processing without additional processing capacity. For a while you might get away with just moving premium requests to the front of the queue, but that breaks down after a certain point and in order to meet whatever timeline they are promising, they will need to have the capacity to handle all the premium applications within that time.

mozumder 10y ago

It would be a lot easier and economically beneficial to just have open borders. What would it take to turn Mexico and Canada into our 51st & 52nd states? So there aren't border controls or inspections there?

SwellJoe 10y ago
Convincing ~50% of Americans that Mexicans don't want to steal their jobs, rape their wives/daughters, or give their kids drugs. I'm on your team, but we've got a long way to go to get America ready for open borders, even with our nearest neighbors that are longtime trading partners and allies.
- mozumder 10y ago
  Well I suppose we can expect some inflation due to the costs of losing Mexican migrant labor. That could be a start to convince Americans that we need these kinds of open borders. But I guess a real open-borders system would require things like common currencies or common judicial system across North America?
  - DaUR 10y ago
    > would require things like common currencies That would be a disaster, and would hurt the dollar and therefore US NatSec and power. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimum_currency_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimum_currency_area
    - mozumder 10y ago
      That doesn't actually state that North America isn't an optimal currency area.
      - DaUR 10y ago
        You're supposed to look at what an optimal currency area is, and see if it applies. Don't just take Wikipedia's opinion for it. It's not. Cultural, language differences, asymmetric shocks, many reasons why. It would be the same catastrophe as the euro, where the euro is severely undervalued for Germany's economy, unfairly helping their exports, and severely overvalued for Greece, unfairly harming their exports.

pavanky 10y ago

Before anyone jumps the gun, this has happened previously in 2015 too: https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-temporarily-suspends-premium-processing-extension-stay-h-1b-petitions https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-temporarily-suspends...

doingmyting 10y ago
The difference is that the 2015 version had a definite date it would come back online. This time there is a hand-wavy "may last up to 6 months". I doubt we'll see PP for H1Bs again.
pj_mukh 10y ago
I wish more headlines came with caveats like this one. In just as bold lettering. The last couple of months has not been great for the mitigation of clickbait.
- johncolanduoni 10y ago
  IMHO the real disclaimer that is needed is an explanation of what premium processing is. Not being able to pay to put your application towards the top of the pile is likely not the first image that title invokes for many people.
  - pavanky 10y ago
    You are not the target audience. It is a press release on a immigration website for immigrants who already know what this means.
    - johncolanduoni 10y ago
      Of course, I'm not arguing with the USCIS's choice of title (I have heard of premium processing before, though I'm not an immigrant). But it would be nice if when this hit public media there would be some effort to explain that term (though I'm not remotely optimistic about that).
    - 10y ago

tn13 10y ago

Wolf in the sheep's clothing. When GovernMint says something you should look for whats hidden in the policy. 1. So if I want to change companies now I have to wait for few months to get the new petition in hand. Tell me I can't travel to my home country during this period! This is essentially friction to job changing. This is clearly against the current administration's policy of Murica first and no to cheap labor. 2. On OPT ? Wait for unknown period of time to know if H1B gets picked in lottery or if it gets approved. Better go home. 3. So far FB, Google etc are always happy doing premium processing where as cheapo Indian companies avoided it. This is another big boost to cheap labor importers.

nashashmi 10y ago
I was with you until Point number three
mynameisvlad 10y ago
> Wait for unknown period of time to know if H1B gets picked in lottery You find out if you were picked for the lottery at about the same time for both standard and premium.
awa 10y ago
Frankly, premium processing is abused. I recently switched jobs and just needed a transfer application acknowledgement to start the new job, however, the company offered to pay for premium processing and I gladly took it. Honestly, they should raise the prices to $5000 with exceptions for financial hardships(they already have this) to weed out non-essential usage of premium processing.
- praneshp 10y ago
  "I recently switched jobs and just needed a transfer application acknowledgement" There is nothing called H1b transfer. It's a brand new application with some extra features like no lottery, no wait-till-Oct1, etc. IMO, all H1b fees should be increased by $5000 and processed in 15 days.

DaUR 10y ago

I really appreciate the transparency. This is something you don't usually see accompany government decisions. All government decisions, laws and regulations should be accompanied by a list of what the decision is supposed to accomplish, and then the media can check whether the decision was effective. Better for democracy. > Why We Are Temporarily Suspending Premium Processing for H-1B Petitions > This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be able to: > Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years; and > Prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240 day mark.

hatred 10y ago

Can anyone shed more light on what happens in the following scenario: You get terminated/leave your current job and activate the new 60 day grace period to find a new job. Provided that a H1B transfer to a new employer can take more than 60 days now. Does one need to leave the country forcefully?

trustfundbaby 10y ago
> and activate the new 60 day grace period to find a new job. Just FYI, this 60 day "grace" period is a bit of an unspoken rule, in reality though, you're expected to leave the US as soon as your job is terminated/visa is revoked, so make sure if you can that the terminating company doesn't revoke your visa within 45-60 days, or else you'll be in a lot of trouble, even if you find a company willing to transfer your visa in that time period.
- caoyangs 10y ago
  > this 60 day "grace" period is a bit of an unspoken rule It is a documented rule now since Jan 2017.
  - trustfundbaby 10y ago
    source pls?
    - hatred 10y ago
      Here: https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-publishes-final-rule-certain-employment-based-immigrant-and-nonimmigrant-visa-programs https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-publishes-fin...
pavanky 10y ago
You can continue working for the new company from the moment they apply for the H1B transfer. But there are a few companies that do not allow this.

justicezyx 10y ago

“The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.” ― Oscar Wilde

johncolanduoni 10y ago
By saying "no, we don't want your money"? Really not seeing the application of that quote here.
- tn13 10y ago
  The money you pay barely matters to USCIS. However this move directly helps those who are importing cheap labor.
  - johncolanduoni 10y ago
    Okay, but where is the expansion of the bureaucracy for its own sake? Or any expansion at all?
    - justicezyx 10y ago
      Wasn't it obvious that USCIS has not utilized modern technologies to boost efficiency, but use its own inefficiency to boost its size? Any decent large corporation of this size should handle a large number of customers with ease. That number, I guess, would be orders magnitude more than USCIS' incoming requests. You may argue the case for USCIS is more complicated. Granted that, I still think the amount of work is much larger than USCIS. [1] "USCIS consists of 19,000 federal employees and contractors working at 223 offices around the world." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Citizenship_and_Immigration_Services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Citizenship_and_...
  - DaUR 10y ago
    > The money you pay barely matters to USCIS It's literally how they fund 99% of their expenses.

jpollock 10y ago

If your process is backlogged such that you cannot handle all traffic in a cycle (covering peak and trough), refusing new traffic won't help and will only add to the backlog.

shakehar 10y ago
It does allow application of people who are stuck in the pipeline to be cleared faster.Granting new H1-Bs is not the only thing that USCIS does.
- jpollock 10y ago
  Yes, and puts them right back in the same situation this time next year. The total amount of work remains unchanged.

awa 10y ago

> This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing time Overall, This is good. A lot of "regular" cases are stuck in backlog (see: http://www.aila.org/infonet/processing-time-reports/csc/2017/csc-processing-time-report-02-28-17 http://www.aila.org/infonet/processing-time-reports/csc/2017...). Ideally, you want them to increase the workforce to handle all the cases but if that's not possible this is the right response for the current situation.

NTDF9 10y ago

A new company just applied for "H-1B transfer" by premium processing this week. All I can say is wtf? I'm in a potential limbo state here because: - I am on a notice period for impending layoffs later in the month - I found a new job, did all the documentation crap and my new company filed already. Hopefully, I'll get a decision in 2 weeks - If not (say I get an RFE or get denied for the transfer), I lose my status because I couldn't transfer to the new company && my old company will lay me off, rendering my old h1b invalid - In an RFE or denial, I will have to look for a job again in 60 days. For that h1b, it'll take them 7 months to tell me if it is approved or not. I can start working for the new company while this processing is going on though - Say, I get laid off in those 7 months again. What does that mean for my status? Can I legally change to a new H1b with another company? - Say, they come after 7 months and tell me it wasn't approved, does that mean I was working illegally so far? This ambiguous and random pile of regulation over regulation sometimes makes me think, hey, it's better to just get out of this place and live somewhere else in peace. For all their talks of supporting legal immigration, US immigration process is incredibly slow, hinges on random pieces of paper and doesn't factor in that an individual can have life changing circumstances in this long duration. Life changing circumstances include marriages, family issues, health issues, lay offs etc. The only way an individual can navigate this PROLONGED bureaucracy is if they have no dependents, no family issues, no health issues, no girlfriends/boyfriends/wives/husbands...so that they can keep fighting random nonsensical regulations, RFEs and denials. Sigh!

trustfundbaby 10y ago
Typically all you need after filing the transfer is the receipt from USCIS to start work at the new firm. You don't have to wait for a decision, so go to your new company and set a new start date. AFAIK Its very rare to get a H1B denial or RFE, but YMMV
- NTDF9 10y ago
  >> AFAIK Its very rare to get a H1B denial or RFE, but YMMV I have received an RFE in the past for stupid things like "Prove this fortune 500 company is real and paid you real wages". This, after having sent my paystubs and W-2s.

sim0n 10y ago

For anyone confused/concerned, the title of this thread is currently "USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend Premium Processing for All Petitions" despite only H-1Bs actually being affected. The title should probably be updated to clarify it only affects one category (H-1B).

H4CK3RM4N 10y ago
When I first saw this thread, it did specify H-1B in the title, not sure why is changed.
dang 10y ago
Whoops that was our mistake. Meant only to take out the superfluous bit at the end of "USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend Premium Processing for All H-1B Petitions – USCIS" but somehow the H1-Bs got swept up as well.

joche 10y ago

Hi all, is this applicable to new h1b petitions or extensions as well?

yogi1234 10y ago

When the suspension will be effective?

chrisper 10y ago
April 3rd

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

98482058 10y ago

Is it right time to swith employer(h1 b transfer)?

98482058 10y ago

Is it right time to swith employer(h1 b transfer)?

sravya123 10y ago

Does this suspension affect i-140 premium processing ?

sravya123 10y ago

Does this suspension affect i-140 premium processing?

sravya123 10y ago

Does this suspension affect i-140 premium processing?

dreamer2017 10y ago

My H1b petition got approved in January,2017. My questions are 1) Does this affect stamping? 2) Does this affect premium processing for amendment?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

boca 10y ago

In some states, the validity of the Driver's License (DL) is aligned with the H1-B petition expiry date and I am in one of those states. My current petition expires in 4 months. Ideally my employer would have applied my H1-B extension under premium processing so that I am not without a valid DL but with this new rule, we'd have to go with regular processing and wait for the approved petition before I can get my DL extended meaning I'll be without a valid DL for some time which is a real pain. Ideally DMV should extend the DL based on the receipt for the petition but a lot of states, including the one where I am, don't do that.

muthukumarbose 10y ago

Hi, I will be completing six year by September 2017. I am hoping to get my I140 approved by June end. I was under the impression that H1B extension can be done by premium processing so that I can stay beyond my six years. But this is shocking news for me. My attorney is saying that even my H1B can't be filed in premium. Is that true ? Please advise.

maplechori 10y ago

Probably a good idea to look for work elsewhere while this administration is in office.