United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the Premium Processing service, which provides an expedited time frame for the adjudication of certain petitions and applications upon the payment of an additional fee and the filing of Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, will become available for applications to change status to F-1 Student, F-2 Student Dependent, M-1 Vocational Student, M-2 Vocational Student Dependent, J-1 Exchange Visitor, and J-2 Exchange Visitor Dependent filed on Form I-539.  The USCIS had previously announced its intention to implement this expansion which we reported in our January 12, 2023 Alert.

The USCIS will phase in this Premium Processing expansion according to the following schedule:

• Starting on June 13, 2023, the USCIS will accept Premium Processing requests filed on Form I-907 online or in hard copy format for applicants who have a pending Form I-539 seeking a change of status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 status.
• Starting on June 26, 2023, the USCIS will accept Premium Processing requests filed on Form I-907 online or in hard copy format for applicants who concurrently file a Form I-539 seeking a change of status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 status.

The USCIS notes that it will reject any Premium Processing request pertaining to a pending Form I-539 if the request is received before June 13.  The USCIS will also reject any Premium Processing request that is concurrently filed with a Form I-539 if the request is received before June 26.

The USCIS’ announcement does not indicate the fee that will be payable for the Premium Processing service for these I-539 applications, but its website states that a $1,750 fee will be levied.  The announcement also does not specify the Premium Processing time frame that will apply to these I-539 applications, but the agency previously reported that a time frame of 30 calendar days would be applicable.  To comply with its obligations under Premium Processing, the USCIS must issue an approval, denial, Request for Additional Evidence (RFE), or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) within 30 calendar days.  If the I-539 application requires an RFE or a NOID, the 30-day time frame will stop and reset. A new 30-day time frame will begin when the USCIS receives a response to the RFE or NOID.

The USCIS notes that all applicants included on the Form I-539 must have their biometric information taken before the Premium Processing time frame starts.  Although the collection of biometrics has been suspended until September 30, 2023, for Form I-539 applications filed requesting H-4, L-2, or E dependent status, it remains in place for I-539 applications requesting an extension of, or change of status to, other statuses.

The Form I-907 submitted to request Premium Processing for an I-539 seeking F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 status must be filed in the same manner (online or in hard copy format) that the Form I-539 is or was filed.

The USCIS concludes by noting that it will adhere to the Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act, which prohibits the expansion of the Premium Processing service if such an expansion results in an increase in the processing times for other immigration benefit requests.