On March 6, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced “the expansion of premium processing for certain F-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and F-1 students seeking science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) OPT extensions.” According to USCIS’s press release, the expansions apply to individuals who have a pending Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and wish to request a premium processing upgrade.

While the paper version of the Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, is available, online filing of Form I-907 is now also available to F-1 students in these categories.

In its announcement, USCIS confirmed that it will expand premium processing for certain F-1 students in phases. In addition, USCIS announced that “students requesting premium processing should not file before these dates.”

According to USCIS, the agency will accept Form I-907 premium processing requests for newly eligible F-1 applicants in two phases:

• On March 6, 2023^t, USCIS started accepting Form I-907 for F-1 students who have a pending Form I-765, as long as they have filed “under one of the following categories:

  • (c)(3)(A) – Pre-Completion OPT;

  • (c)(3)(B) – Post-Completion OPT; and

  • (c)(3)(C) – 24-Month Extension for STEM students.”

• Starting April 3, 2023, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for F-1 students filing under one of the above categories when their Form I-907s is filed concurrently with Form I-765.

This expansion for F-1 students is part of the broader expansion of the Premium Processing Service, which previously included the addition of this service to certain employment-based petitions, including the EB-1 Multinational Executive/ Manager Petitions and the EB-2 National Interest Waiver petitions.