U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services suspended premium processing of H-2B petitions until further notice as of March 22 while it considers its response to a March 21 court order.

The court order, issued in the case Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas et al v. Solis, granted a permanent injunction against the operation of the portion of the Department of Labor’s 2008 wage rule related to certain prevailing wage determinations and gave the department 30 days to come into compliance with the court order.

The Department of Labor intends to promulgate a revised wage rule within 30 days of the date of the court order, which will allow USCIS to resume adjudication of all H-2B petitions.

Petitioners who have already filed an H-2B petition using the premium processing service and receive no agency action on their case within the 15 calendar day period will be issued a refund.