The downturn in the economy has brought some wonderful gems, such as relatively quick processing of petitions. My H-1B practice has seen H-1B petitions approved in as little as two weeks with no premium processing. Most recently I filed an O-1 petition for an alien of extraordinary ability and it was approved within several weeks without premium processing. Usually the H-1Bs or O-1s take at least several months.
With the economy picking up speed, I guess we need to anticipate slower processing times. It’s too bad that it can’t be a win-win situation in immigration land.