USCIS just announced that, effective July 2, 2007, the government organization will temporarily suspend premium processing for Form I-140, the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. USCIS stated that they expect there will be a substantial increase in the amount of employers petitioning for premium processing of Form I-140 because of the demand for preference visa categories available. Information about these available categories are published in the Department of State’s July 2007 Visa Bulletin. USCIS expects to receive more requests for premium processing than they can provide.

The USCIS Premium Processing Service guarantees that petitions will be duly adjudicated within 15 days of receipt. Adjudication in this case means either the issuance of an approval notice, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence or the opening of an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation.

This suspension of premium processing will be active for a period of thirty days, starting July 2, 2007 and ending August 1, 2007. During this period of time, USCIS will determine whether it can process cases within 15 calendar days of receipt. If USCIS can do so, the Premium Processing Service will be reinstated for Form I-140 petitions.