Congress passed the Continuing Appropriations Act, which among other changes, expands Premium Processing. Although some of the changes have been implements, others have not so we don’t know for sure where this potentially good/bad news is headed. But for now, here is where it stands and what is yet to come.
For immigrant visa petitions (I-140), the fee has been increased to $2,500. This new fee is in effect now. USCIS is authorized to include EB-1 multi-national managers and executives and EB-2 national interest waiver case, but that has not yet gone into effect.
For nonimmigrants, the fee has also increased to $2,500, with the exception of H-2B and R-1 petitions. They will enjoy a reduced fee of $1,500. These fees are in effect now.
USCIS is authorized to expand premium processing to F, J, and M applications to change status (I-539) and to dependents (yes, dependent spouses and children) of E, H, L, O, P, and R. The filing fee for these will be $1,750. Also, USCIS may expand premium processing to applications for employment authorization (I-765) at a fee of $1,500. But that too has not yet been implemented.
We will continue to monitor the premium processing expansions carefully. Given the long delays in processing Forms I-539 and I-765, this comes as a great news, albeit expensive and delayed, for all who have been disadvantaged by the backlogs.