The new policy will come into effect from October 1, 2017 and will be applicable to the applications in the following categories:

• Adjustment of status applications based on employment (Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status).
• Refugee/asylee relative petitions (Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition) for beneficiaries who are in the United States and are petitioning to join a principal asylee/refugee applicant.

Prior to the notification of the new policy, applicants for permanent residency in the above categories were not required to attend the in-person interview for the adjudication of their application.

USCIS plans to incrementally expand the interviews to other categories.

Acting USCIS Director James W. McCament said that, “This change reflects the Administration’s commitment to upholding and strengthening the integrity of our nation’s immigration system. USCIS and our federal partners are working collaboratively to develop more robust screening and vetting procedures for individuals seeking immigration benefits to reside in the United States.”

The new policy is likely to affect around 180,000 people per year and further lengthen the existing wait times for green card applications. As per the USCIS tracking tool, it took an average of 333 days for processing employment-based applications with interview waivers, as on September 30, 2016.

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Premium processing will resume for the following petitions, if the H-1B petitioner is:

• An institution of higher education;
• A nonprofit related to or affiliated with an institution of higher education; or
• A nonprofit research or governmental research organization.

USCIS had announced a temporary suspension of premium processing for all H-1B petitions on April 3, 2017. After that announcement, petitioners were not able to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service for Form I-129, or Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.

However, following the latest notification from USCIS, petitioners who are eligible for premium processing can now file their petitions in the respective categories. As per the notification, Form I-907 can be filed together with an H-1B petition or separately for a pending H-1B petition.

The notification also states that USCIS plans to resume premium processing of other H-1B petitions as workloads permit and will make additional announcements with specific details. Premium processing will remain temporarily suspended for all other H-1B petitions until then.

USCIS had earlier announced that premium processing resumed on June 26, 2017 for H-1B petitions filed on behalf of physicians under the Conrad 30 waiver program as well as interested government agency waivers.

The H-1B visa has an annual cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year. Additionally, there is an annual “master’s cap” of 20,000 petitions filed for beneficiaries with a U.S. master’s degree or higher.

For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit www.uscis.gov

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