Only applicants meeting certain criteria may qualify for an expedited request. These criteria include:
Severe financial hardship: Demonstrating that a company will suffer a severe financial loss if your status adjustment is not expedited may meet the criteria. Showing you will lose your job, which is a severe financial hardship as an individual, may also qualify. However, just needing to meet employment authorization is not sufficient for expedition. The standard for severe financial hardship is high, and relatively few cases will qualify for expedited processing.
Extreme emergency or humanitarian grounds: Perhaps you received word that a close relative in another country is very ill or dying. Only these and other genuine emergencies, such the need to travel fast to obtain medical treatment, will meet the expedition criteria.
USCIS processing error: If it is clear that the USCIS made a processing error resulting in the individual’s losing time and status, it is possible to submit an expedition request. The USCIS’ putting in the wrong dates, thus affecting the applicant’s status, is a prime example of a USCIS processing error.
Nonprofit organizations: IRS-approved nonprofits may apply for an expedited request on behalf of a beneficiary. For example, a beneficiary creating a positive social impact, such as a doctor or researcher working in the field, may qualify for an accelerated request.
Federal agencies: such as the US Departments of Labor, Defense, State, Justice, Homeland Security, and others with interests concerning national security or public safety may make expedited requests. Such requests must show an “immediate and substantive” national interest need.
Keep in mind that USCIS considers all such requests on a case-by-case basis. Additional documentation to support the request may prove necessary. Although an individual’s case may appear to meet expedited request criteria, it is up to the USCIS to determine whether to grant the request. The USCIS does not need to explain why a request is denied.
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