H4 EAD Premium Processing News – Planned for FY 2025, Fee $1500

US Congress passed Bill HR 8337 which added provisions to expand premium processing for H4 Visa and H4 EAD.  The below article tracks the latest news updates on the same with the timeline of events, current status.

Current Status on H4 Visa, H4 EAD Premium Processing

Below is a summary of the latest status of H4 Visa (Form I-539) and H4 EAD(Form I-765) premium processing as of March 30th, 2022.

• US Congress passed Bill HR 8337 which added provisions for H4 visa extensions, change of status(COS) that use form I-539, and H4 EAD that use form I-765.
• The bill was signed into law by president on Oct 1, 2020. It is called public law 116 – 159
• Since the Biden administration took office, they have not acted on implementing this for a long time. It was with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a long time until February 2022.
• After a long wait, finally, on March 30th, 2022, DHS published the Regulation to implement Premium Processing for H4 Visa (extension and change of status)and H4 EAD.
• As per the regulation published in Federal Register, DHS Plans to implement H4 and H4 EAD premium processing by FY 2025. See the below timeline for additional details.

Timeline, Latest News Updates on H4 and H4 EAD Premium Processing

Below is the timeline of events, official news updates, and the latest actions on the H4 Visa and H4 EAD premium processing topic.

March 30th, 2022: DHS published the final rule to implement the Premium Processing for H4, H4 EAD, and many others in Federal Register. Below is the summary :

• USCIS H4 Premium Processing
  • The premium processing fee for H4 visa extensions and change of status(COS) using form I-539 form is going to be $1,750
  • The premium processing time for H4 visa using Form I-539 will be 30 Days
• USCIS H4 EAD Premium Processing
  • The premium processing fee for H4 EAD using form I-765 form is going to be $1,500
  • The premium processing time for H4 EAD using Form I-765 is going to be 30 Days
  • See the below screenshot for both H4 and H4 EAD premium processing details.

• Implementation Timeline
  • Due to their constraints and budget issues, USCIS is implementing the premium Processing in a phased manner and not implementing all the forms in FY 2022
  • Unfortunately, H4 and H4 EAD Premium Processing will not be part of the initial rollout in FY 2022.
  • USCIS Plans to implement H4 and H4 EAD premium processing by FY 2025. They are prioritizing F1 OPT for Form I-765 in FY 2022.
  • Below are the screenshots of the official text in the regulation that talks about it.

• February 25th, 2022: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed the OIRA Regulatory Review for H4 EAD, L2 EAD and other Premium Processing Regulation.
  • As of now, we do not have the text published for the same. Next steps are we wait for DHS to publish the final rule in Federal register and have an effective date.
  • We do not have the date on when this will be effective. We now wait for DHS.
  • Below are the screenshots that indicate the same.
  • You can check 9 Steps of Federal Rule Making Process on what happend so far and what to expect as part of the general rulemaking process.
  • Check Reginfo.gov for the same.

• February 9th, 2022: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) usually conducts meetings with stakeholders before they complete their review and send it back to the agency requesting it. For H4 and H4 EAD premium processing rule as well, they conducted EO 12866 Meeting with the stakeholders. This indicates that they are at least reviewing it and we can expect some movement in next few weeks or months. See below screenshot on the meeting details, you can check Reginfo.gov for actual meeting info

• December 8th, 2021 : Finally, after many months of waiting and a year after it was passed, Biden administration submitted the H4 EAD premium processing regulation to OMB for review. See below screenshot. This is a required step to get their approval for implementation of the same. It is submitted as final rule stage, which means it is in the final stages and be implemented after OMB approves this. USCIS will outline the details after OMB approves the same and will release the official regulation details on how this will work. The waiting continues. Check Reginfo.gov for below update

• July, August, September, October, November 2021 : Nothing really moved in these three months in terms of the premium processing implementation for H4 and H4 EAD. This was supposed to be done in September as per the published agenda item, but nothing happend.
• June 11th, 2021 : Biden Administration released Spring 2021 Regulatory Agenda and the premium processing adjustment that includes H4 & H4 EAD premium processing was part of that. It is planned to be implemented with a final action date of September 2021. We could see some activity on this before Sep 2021. Below is the screenshot from Regulatory Agenda that talks about premium processing. Check Regulatory Agenda Item on Reginfo.Gov

• May 31st, 2021 : There is no update since October of 2020. It seems like not a priority for newly elected Biden adminstration to take it up. It has to go through the standard regulatory process.
• October 16^th, 2020 : USCIS released a press note indicating that they are increasing the Premium processing fee for H1B to $2,500 based on the Public Law 116 -159. Also, they said that they will expand premium processing for additional forms and USCIS has not yet taken any action. Check Official Press Release by USCIS On Premium Processing
• October 1^st, 2020 :  The Bill HR 8337 was signed into law by president Trump.  It is called as Public Law 116 – 159
• Sep 30^th, 2020 :  The Bill HR 8337 was passed in Senate
• Sep 22^nd, 2020 : The Bill HR 8337 was introduced and passed in House. The Bill has many other provisions in addition to H4 and H4 EAD processing. You can read complete details at USCIS Premium Processing for H4, L2, EAD

Summary of H4 Visa, H4 EAD Premium Processing Bill  

As per the Bill HR 8337, that was signed into law by president Trump, below are the complete details that are related to H4 Visa and H4 EAD premium processing.  

• Premium Processing for H4 COS, Extensions:
  • USCIS will provide option for H1B visa holder dependents, who are H4 Visa holders, to file Extensions and Change of Status (COS) applications that are typically filed using Form I-539 in Premium processing.  This provision will be effective after USCIS completes the regulatory process.
  • The fee for H4 COS, extensions cannot exceed $1,750 USD as per Congress.
  • The premium processing time for H4 COS, extensions cannot exceed 30 days
  • Premium processing clock for H4 extensions and COS will start only after the pre-requisites are met. Meaning it will start only after biometrics, fee, required documents are provided to USCIS and they believe the pre-requisites are met and application is complete. The premium processing clock would only commence after the H4 Biometrics are given at ASC
•  Premium Processing for H4 EAD:
  • USCIS will also provide premium processing option for H4 EAD applicants. Again, this provision will be effective only after USCIS completes the regulatory process.
  •  The fee for H4 EAD cannot exceed $1,500 USD as per Congress
  • The premium processing time for H4 EAD application cannot exceed 30 days.
  • The premium processing clock, when someone Applies for H4 EAD would only start after the pre-requisites are met for the application. It is not clear at the moment, what these pre-requisites would be, we would know once the regulation is published by USCIS.
• You can read additional details at USCIS Premium Processing for H4, L2, EAD

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