U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Announces a Phase-In of Premium Processing and New Online-Filing Procedures for Certain F-1 Students Seeking OPT or STEM OPT Extensions

Category: Client Alerts
Date: March 08, 2023
Title: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Announces a Phase-In of Premium Processing and New Online-Filing Procedures for Certain F-1 Students Seeking OPT or STEM OPT Extensions

USCIS has expanded premium processing for certain F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and STEM OPT extensions. Specifically, for a fee of $1,500, eligible applicants can request that USCIS adjudicate their Form I-765 applications for employment authorization within 30 calendar days of USCIS’ receipt of the Form I-907 premium processing application.

Premium processing upgrades are now available for currently pending I-765 forms that were filed under the following categories:

(c)(3)(A) – Pre-Completion OPT
(c)(3)(B) – Post-Completion OPT
(c)(3)(C) – 24-Month Extension of OPT for STEM students

Applicants can file their Form I-907s for these pending applications online or by mail (using the latest paper version of the form).

Beginning April 3, USCIS will accept Form I-907 premium processing requests (online or by mail) from F-1 students seeking employment authorization documents in the above-listed categories when filed together with Form I-765. USCIS will reject any concurrently filed I-907s received before this date.

To file Form I-907 online, an applicant must first create a USCIS online account, where they may submit forms, pay fees and track the status of any pending USCIS immigration request throughout the adjudication process.

If you have any questions regarding this new benefit, please call any of the lawyers in the Business Immigration Group.