As part of its campaign to expand premium processing service, United Sates Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it will begin to offer premium processing for certain applicants filing Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, to change into F, M, or J Nonimmigrant Status. USCIS will offer premium processing to those seeking to change their status to F, M, or J in phases according to the following schedule:

As of June 13, 2023, USCIS is accepting premium processing requests for currently pending I-539 applications for those seeking to change status to F-1, F-2, M-1, J-1, or J-2 status.
Beginning June 26, 2023, the agency will accept I-907 requests for premium processing requests from applicants filing new I-539 applications to change status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 status.

Premium processing requests may be filed on paper or electronically online. To request premium processing, an I-907 Request for Premium Processing must be filed with the Service, along with the $1,750 fee in the same mode the I-539 is filed. The premium processing timeframe will be thirty days; however, the time limit is started only after USCIS receives all of the prerequisites for adjudication, including biometrics for the applicant seeking to change status. USCIS will not accept requests for premium processing from petitioners outside of the timeframes noted above, nor will they accept requests from applicants seeking M-1 or M-2 extensions of stay.

We will continue to provide updates on future expansions of premium processing as they are announced.