Immigrants who petition the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are subject to the program’s wait times, which can be notoriously long in some circumstances. Given the sensitive nature of an immigrant’s application for citizenship or employment in the U.S., it is often necessary for the legal processing of an immigration petition to be expedited, thus allowing for an immigrant’s status to be determined and solidified in as timely a manner as possible.

Immigrants who are looking for a quick response to their immigration petition should consider the USCIS Premium Processing Program, by which designated immigration petitions can be rushed through the process within 15 calendar days from the time that the petition was received. To do so, however, requires that the immigrant pay a filing fee, which is upward of $1,000, as well as proper completion of the I-907 form. In order to ensure that you submit your petition correctly, it is imperative that you have a New York immigration lawyer guiding you through the process.

Process Your Case in 15 Days

The filing fee that is paid to the USCIS for the Premium Processing Program unequivocally ensures that the immigrant who has filed a petition will have his or her case handled within 15 calendar days. In return for the premium processing payment that is made to them, USCIS commits to processing the immigration petition within the 15-day calendar period allotted to it. Failure to complete the petition within this designated amount of time will require the USCIS to return the processing fee while still continuing to fulfill the expedited requirement.

If your case is not processed within the 15 days prescribed to it, you can involve an attorney to help ensure that your rights and privileges are not abused or otherwise taken advantage of during the process. You must remember at this time, however, that your case is not required to be adjudicated within this timeframe. Rather the USCIS is required to have begun the multi-phase process at this time. If your petition is neither approved nor denied within the 15 day period, the USCIS has failed to live up to its commitment.

The 15-day clock upon which your case hinges officially begins when the USCIS has received your I-907 form along with its corresponding fee. This does not mean, however, that persons who have already submitted their forms cannot still take advantage of the premium processing offered to them. An attorney from our office can help you upgrade your case to premium processing if it has already been submitted to the standard filing process by which all other applications are processed.

Eligibility: Is the Premium Processing Program right for you?

The benefit of an expedited processing of your petition through the USCIS Premium Processing Program is limited to a specific group of individuals. The program is offered to many employment-based immigrant categories with the exception of the EB1 category for multinational executives and managers and theEB2 category for immigrants seeking a National Interest Waiver.

If you are unsure of whether or not your status qualifies you to participate in the USCIS Premium Processing Program, you can access more information about the service on the USCIS website. In addition, the law office of Pozo Goldstein, LLP can be contacted for further assistance. As litigators with more than 90 years of combined experience, we are extremely familiar with how the process works and we are ready to help you determine if it is right for you.

What are the benefits of premium processing?

If you’ve found yourself in a situation that requires the immediate attention of the USCIS, it is critical that you involve an immigration lawyer in your case as soon as possible. Together, you and your attorney can determine whether or not the Premium Processing Program is right for you. If a status issue is looming over your head, or you are facing a three-year wait time for the processing of a green card, utilizing the Premium Processing Program initiated by the USCIS could greatly benefit your case.

Rather than wait a prolonged amount of time for your immigration petition to be processed by the USCIS, instead speak with an attorney from our firm about the options available to you. Upon reviewing the details of your case, we can discern whether or not you would benefit from the expedited process offered by the program. If you wouldn’t benefit, we’ll tell you and work toward finding another way to assist in the legal process at hand. Together, we can work through the immigration issue you are currently facing, so don’t wait to contact Pozo Goldstein, LLP today.