On September 18, 2017, USCIS reinstated premium processing for all H-B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2018 cap, including the 20,000 additional petitions for foreign workers with a US master’s degree or higher educational degree. Previously, USCIS had resumed the premium processing of H-1B petitions filed on behalf of physicians under the Conrad 30 program as well as interested government agency waivers and certain other H-1Bs that are not subject to the cap.
Premium processing remains suspended for all other H-1B petition, such as extensions of stay and changes of employer. Beneficiaries of pending H-1B extension petitions are granted up to 240 days of employment authorization past the end date on their current/prior petition. Once this period expires, they may remain in the US but they cannot work. Beneficiaries of H-1B petitions to change employers may start working for the new employer once its H-1B petition is filed (portability).