AILA Liaison learned at a CSC/VSC stakeholder engagement on 4/5/2012 that USCIS has received 22,323 cap-subject H-1B petitions as of 4/4/2012. Approximately 25% of the cases are for U.S. advanced degrees.
AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 12040553 (posted Apr. 5, 2012)
For a $1,225 fee, USCIS will guarantee completion of a non-immigrant work-visa case within 15 calendar days, unless a Request for Further Evidence is sent.
All non-immigrant work visa categories are included in this program, i.e. E, H, I, L, O, P cases can get approved significantly faster than through the regular processing procedures, which typically take several months. The $1,225 fee is paid in addition to the regular filing fee.
USCIS has also begun offering this Premium Processing service in a number of immigrant visa petitions. You can find an overview over the currently available categories here.
