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Here is a question from our community:

My husband and I have our N400 petition pending for almost 18 months. We passed our interview in July 2007 and had our 2nd fingerprinting 2 weeks ago. We were also informed that we have been cleared from background check. We have to leave for an international assignment in December and would like to understand the steps we need to take so it does not impact/disrupt our naturalization process, in case we do not get called for oath by then.

The news item and related documents are available here:
http://www.immigration.com/newslette...prmprocss.html

Please note, for now (June 2008), premium processing is only available if you meet ALL of the current requirements:
1. Your are currently on H-1;
2. Your H-1 status is expiring within 60 days when you apply for I-140 premium processing; and
3. You are not eligible to receive 1-year H-1 extensions because your labor certification was filed less than one year ago.

This issue has come up several times. Here is what USCIS says:

USCIS Considerations to expedite Cases

All expedite requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and are granted at the discretion of the Director. The criteria are as follows:

* Severe financial loss to company or individual
* Extreme emergent situation
* Humanitarian situation
* Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States

This morning, I was working on explaining to a client (whom I respect greatly), one of the foremost musicians from India, how EB1 (Extraordinary Ability) category applies to musicians and performers. As I was sending him the basic information on EB1 category, I thought I will share the general criteria with all of you. This information is for EA, generally and applies to all fields - not just music. See attached.

Regards to all. Rajiv.