Nebraska Service Center Will Begin Accepting Certain I-129 H-1B and H-1B1 Extension Petitions on July 1

Effective July 1, 2016, the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) will begin accepting certain Form I-129 H-1B and H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore Free Trade) extension petitions if the petitioner is requesting an extension with the same employer (on the Form I-129, the box is listed as: “Continuation of previously approved employment without change with the same employer”) with one of the following requested actions: 

•  Notify the office in Part 4 so the beneficiary can obtain a visa or be admitted;  
•  Extend the stay of the beneficiary because the beneficiary now holds this status; or
•  Extend the status of a nonimmigrant classification based on a free trade agreement.

The NSC will also accept the following forms filed concurrently with these I-129 extensions:

•  H-4 Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, and
•  Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, for certain H-4 nonimmigrants.

Those filing a standalone Form I-539 and/or Form I-765 for H-4 nonimmigrants should refer to the direct filing addresses for Form I-539 and Form I-765.

Although not currently listed on the Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-129—we imagine it will be updated closer to the July 1 date—the NSC addresses are:  

For US Postal Mail Service:

USCIS
Nebraska Service Center
PO Box 87129
Lincoln, NE 68501-7129

For Fed-Ex, UPS, etc:

USCIS
Nebraska Service Center
850 ‘S’ Street
Lincoln, NE 68508

In their press release, USCIS does not comment specifically on whether premium processing will be available for these petitions, though it is possible that it will be, as NSC does have a Premium Processing Unit that adjudicates I-140 petitions.

USCIS states that the California Service Center (CSC) and the Vermont Service Center (VSC) “may” continue to accept I-129 H-1B and H-1B1 extension petitions during the transition period, which ends August 31, 2016. With this linguistic uncertainty, it may be best to submit the relevant H-1B and H-1B1 extension petitions to the NSC to avoid any possible processing delays. While USCIS has not commented specifically on why this change is made, generally when a service center begins accepting new petitions or applications the intent is to free up other service centers and decrease processing times. The Vermont Service Center is currently processing H-1B extensions received August 31, 2015, which translates to approximately a very significant ten-month delay.

Petitioners should continue to file all other H-1B/H-1B1 petitions with the CSC and the VSC based on the instructions on the Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-129. Regardless of work locations, petitioners should always send the following types of petitions to the CSC:

• H-2A;
• R-1;
• H-1B petitions where the employer is statutorily exempt from the cap; or
• E-1 and E-2, petitions for extension of stay or change of status only.

Moreover, regardless of work locations, petitioners should always send the following types of petitions to the VSC:

• H-1C;
• E-3, Petitions for extension of stay or change of status only;
• Free Trade Nonimmigrants (H-1B1 aliens from Chile/Singapore and TN aliens from Canada or Mexico), petitions for extension of stay or change of status only;
• P-1, Major League Sports Organizations.

USCIS Temporarily Suspends Premium Processing for Extension of Stay H-1B Petitions

In an unexpected decision sure to cause frustration (trust us, there's already been a few choice words said here in our office), US Citizenship & Immigration Services  (USCIS) announced today that effective May 26, 2015 (less than one week away, which makes planning for this rather difficult), USCIS will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B extension of stay petitions until July 27, 2015. During this time period, USCIS premium processing will not accept Form I-907 Request for Premium Processing Service, filed with H-1B extension of stay petitions, but USCIS says that they will continue to premium process H-1B extension of stay petitions filed with Form I-907 premium requests prior to May 26, 2015. It is unclear at this time whether the premium processing suspension will include change of employer petitions (since most of those include extensions of stay requests).

USCIS will refund the premium processing fee if petitioners filed the H-1B petitions prior to May 26, 2015, using the premium processing service, and, per their usual guarantee, USCIS did not act on the case within the fifteen-calendar-day period. Meanwhile, premium processing remains available for all other Form I-129 H-1B petitions, including H-1B cap-subject petitions, even though the beginning validity date for these cap-subject petitions cannot be earlier than October 1, 2015.

This temporary suspension is not usually an issue because once the H-1B extension petition is filed, the foreign national may remain in the US and continue working for their employer for up to 240 days past the expiration of their current status. For example, if an extension has been filed for the foreign national whose H-1B status is expiring on September 1, that individual can continue to work from now until April 28, 2016 (240 days from September 1). The problem arises if that foreign national in the example needs to travel internationally after September 1. Indeed premium processing can still be a valuable resource, especially in the busy summer months when international travel is at its peak, and foreign nationals wish to obtain an approval notice quickly so they can apply for a visa stamp at a US Consulate/Embassy abroad. Premium processing has been available to H-1B petitions since 2001, and the abrupt decision to suspend premium processing for these types of H-1B petitions is surprising and could put some US employers and foreign nationals in a bind.

USCIS claims that this temporary premium processing suspension is necessary so they can implement and adjudicate employment authorization applications for certain H-4 spouses, who can begin filing their applications on May 26, 2015. USCIS announced they were extending employment authorization to certain H-4 spouses back in February of this year, and it was hoped that USCIS would have used the intervening three months to determine its staffing needs in preparation for the volume of applications it will receive on May 26. It is unfortunate that USCIS is not more prepared and disappointing that foreign nationals who have relied on the availability of premium processing to make their summer international travel plans will now suffer the consequences of USCIS's lack of planning.

UPDATE (July 13, 2015): USCIS announced that effective July 13, 2015, they will resume accepting Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for all Form I-129 H-1B extension of stay petitions. While as we reported USCIS originally planned to resume premium processing for H-1B extension petitions later this month on July 27, after they "closely monitored" their workloads in regards to implementing and adjudicating employment authorization applications for certain H-4 dependent spouses—which, of course, was the reason for the premium processing suspension—USCIS determined (we're pleased to report) that they can resume premium processing earlier than expected on July 13.