USCIS announced on 9/22 that premium processing service for I-140 based on EB1 & EB2 will be available starting from September 25, 2006. This premium service will allow U.S. businesses to pay a $1,000 Premium Processing fee in exchange for 15-calendar-day processing of their case.
Starting on September 25, 2006, USCIS will begin accepting Premium Processing requests for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, involving the following immigrant visa categories:
• EB-1, outstanding professors and researchers,
• EB-2, members of professions with advanced degrees or exceptional ability not seeking a National Interest Waiver,
• EB-3, workers other than skilled workers and professionals (i.e., unskilled labor requiring less than two years of training or experience. (Premium Service for EB3-Professionals and EB-3 Skilled Workers has been available since 8/28).

Under the Premium Processing Service, USCIS guarantees petitioners that, for a $1,000 processing fee, it will issue either an approval notice, or where appropriate, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence or open an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation, within 15 calendar days of receipt. If the petition is not processed within 15 calendar days, USCIS will refund the $1,000 fee and continue to process the request as part of the Premium Processing Service. In addition to faster processing,
petitioners who participate in the program may use a dedicated phone number and e-mail address to check on the status of their petition or ask any other questions they may have concerning their petition.

However, applicants within the following categories cannot use the Premium Process service:

• The applicant ahs another pending I-140,
• Labor certification substitution I-140,
• Approval letter of Labor certification is lost, and the I-140 petition requires USCIS to obtain duplicate labor certification from Department of Labor.