In what is supposed to be an egalitarian country, a once-egalitarian Biden administration has yet again followed the observation of the late George Orwell in Animal Farm that some pigs are more equal than others. It did so by extending “premium processing” — for $1,750 — to those aliens wanting to adjust to one of six nonimmigrant classes: F-1 and F-2 (academic students and dependents), J-1 and J-2 (exchange visitors), and M-1 and M-2 (vocational students).
“Premium processing” puts the applicant at the head of the line in terms of speed of processing, not the results thereof.
The press release (as reprinted by a law firm) can be seen here. The release does not share the cost of the fee, you have to look it up here.
The F and J statuses are for what is largely a middle- and upper-class population; the much smaller set of M documents go to those seeking industrial training.
Premium processing has been available to some other classes of aliens, such as the EB-5 program for would-be investors, for some time. Were USCIS to be properly managed, with an adequate fee structure, these special deals for the richer aliens would not be necessary.
All of this leads me to wonder: Do other migrant-receiving nations have similar policies? Readers with information on this subject are encouraged to drop me a note at [email protected].