Update: USCIS has announced it is increasing the premium processing fee for Forms I-129 and I-140 to $1,410 as of Monday, October 1, 2018.
Context: This is the first premium processing fee increase since 2011 when the fee was changed from $1,000 to $1,225. The increase serves multiple purposes: it adjusts the fee to account for inflation, and, according to USCIS, will allow the service “to continue making necessary investments in staff and technology to administer various immigration benefit requests more effectively and efficiently.”
Impact: While Premium Processing is currently suspended for many H-1B petitions, other petitions, such as I-140 immigrant petitions and I-129 non-immigrant petitions for L-1s, remain eligible for Premium Processing. All requests for Premium Processing received by USCIS on or after Monday, October 1 must include the new fee.