USA suspends H-1B application premium processing

WASHINGTON DC: The US will start accepting petitions for H1-B visas from April 2, a federal agency announced on Wednesday as it temporarily suspended the premium processing of all such work visas, popular among Indian IT professionals, subject to fiscal cap.

The H1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The H-1B petition filing is for the fiscal year 2019 beginning October 1, 2018, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said.

The suspension of premium processing of all H-1B petitions which are subject to the annual caps is expected to last until September 10, 2018.

During this time, the USCIS said it will continue to accept premium processing requests for H-1B petitions that are not subject to the fiscal 2019 cap.