USCIS will no longer accept Premium ProcessingService (PPS) filings for any H-1B petition, starting April 3, 2017.  USCIS says that the suspension could last for6 months.   PPS will not be available forH-1B cap cases, H-1B cap-exempt cases, H-1B extensions, H-1B amendments, or anyother type of H-1B petition.
USCIS claims that by suspending thePPS program for H-1B petitions, it will helpthem reduce overall H-1B processing times.  
Here is the fullpress release:


USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend PremiumProcessing for All H-1B Petitions
StartingApril 3, 2017, USCIS will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1Bpetitions. This suspension may last up to 6 months. While H-1B premiumprocessing is suspended, petitioners will not be able to file Form I-907,Request for Premium Processing Service for a Form I-129, Petition for aNonimmigrant Worker which requests the H-1B nonimmigrant classification. Wewill notify the public before resuming premium processing for H-1B petitions.

Who Is Affected

The temporary suspension applies to all H-1B petitions filed on or afterApril 3, 2017. Since FY18 cap-subject H-1B petitions cannot be filed beforeApril 3, 2017, this suspension will apply to all petitions filed for the FY18H-1B regular cap and master’s advanced degree cap exemption (the “master’scap”). The suspension also applies to petitions that may be cap-exempt.
While premium processing is suspended, we will reject any Form I-907 filedwith an H-1B petition. If the petitioner submits one combined check for boththe Form I-907 and Form I-129 H-1B fees, we will have to reject both forms.
We will continue to premium process Form I-129 H-1B petitions if thepetitioner properly filed an associated Form I-907 before April 3, 2017.Therefore, we will refund the premium processing fee if:

  1. The petitioner filed the Form I-907 for an H-1B petition before April 3, 2017, and
  2. We did not take adjudicative action on the case within the 15-calendar-day processing period.

This temporary suspension of premium processing does not apply to othereligible nonimmigrant classifications filed on Form I-129.

RequestingExpedited Processing

While premium processing is suspended, petitioners may submit a request toexpedite an H-1B petition if they meet the criteria on the ExpediteCriteria webpage. It is the petitioner’s responsibility to demonstratethat they meet at least one of the expedite criteria, and we encouragepetitioners to submit documentary evidence to support their expedite request.
We review all expedite requests on a case-by-case basis and requests aregranted at the discretion of the office leadership.

Why We AreTemporarily Suspending Premium Processing for H-1B Petitions

This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processingtimes. By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be able to:

  • Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years; and
  • Prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240 day mark.