<p class="title">The US has extended the temporary suspension of premium processing for H1-B visas, popular among Indian IT professionals, as part of its efforts to clear the backlog.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Premium processing is a feature that shortens the usual processing time of H-1B visa petitions from an average of six months to 15 calendar days for a fee of USD 1,225 (Rs 86,181). It allowed some companies to jump the queue.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The suspension, announced yesterday by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), are expected to last until February 19 next year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The USCIS said it is extending the temporary suspension of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions and, beginning September 11, will be expanding this temporary suspension to include certain additional H-1B petitions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Under the premium processing, the USCIS has to respond within 15 days to the H-1B visa petitions submitted to it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The USCIS had announced in March that it will temporarily suspend premium processing for all fiscal year 2019 cap-subject petitions, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a US master's degree or higher.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This suspension of premium processing for fiscal year 2019 cap-subject H-1B petitions was originally slated to last until September 10, 2018, but that suspension is being extended through an estimated date of February 19, 2019.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The USCIS said the temporary suspension will help it reduce overall H-1B processing times by allowing it to process long-pending petitions, which the agency said it has been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and premium processing requests over the past few months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The temporary suspension will also allow the agency to be responsive to petitions with time-sensitive start dates and prioritise adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240-day mark.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As an H-1B non-immigrant, the applicant may be admitted for a period of up to three years. The time period may be extended, but generally cannot go beyond a total of six years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The H1-B visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 each fiscal year as mandated by the Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US master's degree or higher are exempt from the cap.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Additionally, H1-B workers who are petitioned for or employed at an institution of higher education or its affiliated or related nonprofit entities or a nonprofit research organisation or a government research organisation are not subject to this numerical cap.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the USCIS, between 2007 and 2017, it received the maximum number of 2.2 million H-1B petitions from high-skilled Indians.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India was followed by China with 301,000 H-1B petitions during the same period.</p>
<p class="title">The US has extended the temporary suspension of premium processing for H1-B visas, popular among Indian IT professionals, as part of its efforts to clear the backlog.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Premium processing is a feature that shortens the usual processing time of H-1B visa petitions from an average of six months to 15 calendar days for a fee of USD 1,225 (Rs 86,181). It allowed some companies to jump the queue.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The suspension, announced yesterday by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), are expected to last until February 19 next year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The USCIS said it is extending the temporary suspension of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions and, beginning September 11, will be expanding this temporary suspension to include certain additional H-1B petitions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Under the premium processing, the USCIS has to respond within 15 days to the H-1B visa petitions submitted to it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The USCIS had announced in March that it will temporarily suspend premium processing for all fiscal year 2019 cap-subject petitions, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a US master's degree or higher.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This suspension of premium processing for fiscal year 2019 cap-subject H-1B petitions was originally slated to last until September 10, 2018, but that suspension is being extended through an estimated date of February 19, 2019.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The USCIS said the temporary suspension will help it reduce overall H-1B processing times by allowing it to process long-pending petitions, which the agency said it has been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and premium processing requests over the past few months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The temporary suspension will also allow the agency to be responsive to petitions with time-sensitive start dates and prioritise adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240-day mark.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As an H-1B non-immigrant, the applicant may be admitted for a period of up to three years. The time period may be extended, but generally cannot go beyond a total of six years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The H1-B visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 each fiscal year as mandated by the Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US master's degree or higher are exempt from the cap.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Additionally, H1-B workers who are petitioned for or employed at an institution of higher education or its affiliated or related nonprofit entities or a nonprofit research organisation or a government research organisation are not subject to this numerical cap.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the USCIS, between 2007 and 2017, it received the maximum number of 2.2 million H-1B petitions from high-skilled Indians.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India was followed by China with 301,000 H-1B petitions during the same period.</p>