Premium processing is being reinstated for H-1B visas requested by institutions of higher education and related nonprofits as well as nonprofit and governmental research organizations. US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a six-month suspension of premium processing for all H-1B visa petitions in March.

The nonimmigrant H-1B visa is used to bring in highly skilled workers such as IT and healthcare professionals. However, it has come under political fire in some quarters, and staffing firms have been under particular scrutiny.

USCIS announced today that premium processing for the higher education and research petitions would resume. It had also announced last month that premium processing would resume for medical doctors.

Interest remains high for H-1B visas. Although the number of petitions for H-1Bs was down this year compared to last, the annual cap on visa petitions was still reached within a week in April.