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Short answer: no. USCIS premium processing is not available for the H-1B1 classification, whether the beneficiary is a national of Chile or of Singapore. The classification simply has never been designated as eligible for the service.
What premium processing is. Premium processing is a paid, optional service governed by 8 CFR 106.4. For a designated category, the filing of Form I-907 obliges USCIS to take adjudicative action — approval, denial, notice of intent to deny, or a request for evidence — within a guaranteed period, generally fifteen business days for petitions on Form I-129. The premium processing fee is charged in addition to the ordinary filing fee and cannot be waived.
Why the H-1B1 is excluded. Premium processing reaches only the categories listed at 8 CFR 106.4(c). The entry for specialty occupation workers, at 8 CFR 106.4(c)(2), is limited to a nonimmigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act — that is, the conventional H-1B. The H-1B1 is a separate statutory subclause, section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1), and it appears nowhere in the regulation. The USCIS chart of designated Form I-129 classifications tells the same story: it covers E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-2B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, blanket L, O-1, O-2, the P categories, Q-1, R-1, TN-1 and TN-2, and it contains no row for the H-1B1.
In most H-1B1 cases there is nothing for USCIS to expedite. The H-1B1 is not a petition-based classification. An employer files a certified labor condition application with the Department of Labor and the prospective employee then applies directly at a U.S. consulate, without any preliminary approval from USCIS. Because premium processing operates only on benefit requests filed with USCIS, it has no application to a case that runs from the Department of Labor to a consular post.
Even where USCIS is involved, the answer does not change. USCIS does adjudicate some H-1B1 filings: an extension of stay or an amended filing for a worker who remains in the United States is made on Form I-129 under 8 CFR 214.1(c)(1), and a change of status from another nonimmigrant category is also decided by USCIS. Neither filing can be upgraded, because eligibility for premium processing turns on the classification requested rather than on the form used, and the H-1B1 classification is not designated.
The contrast with the E-3 is instructive. The E-3 classification for Australian specialty occupation professionals is built on the same model as the H-1B1 — a labor condition application followed by a direct consular application, with USCIS involvement only for extensions and changes of status — yet the E-3 was later added to the premium processing list. The exclusion of the H-1B1 is therefore an administrative choice about which categories receive the service, not a consequence of how the category is structured. The list is revised from time to time, so its current contents are worth confirming with USCIS before a filing strategy is settled.
Accompanying family members. The regulation at 8 CFR 106.4(c)(20) designates applications on Form I-539 to change status to, or extend stay as, the dependent of an H nonimmigrant. USCIS has phased that service in gradually, however, and its published availability chart currently limits Form I-539 premium processing to applicants seeking F, M or J status. Premium processing is accordingly not a practical option for the H-4 spouse or child of an H-1B1 worker either.
Planning around the absence of the service. Two features of the category soften the loss. An extension request filed with USCIS before the current period of stay expires carries continued employment authorization with the same employer for up to 240 days while the filing remains pending, under 8 CFR 274a.12(b)(20). And because the classification is consular in the first instance, an H-1B1 worker who is able to travel can frequently obtain a fresh admission abroad in less time than a domestic extension would take. Separately from premium processing, USCIS retains discretion to expedite a filing that meets its published expedite criteria; that request is free, but it is granted sparingly and guarantees nothing.
Related pages: extensions and renewals of H-1B1 status, changing status to H-1B1 from within the United States, and the main requirements for the H-1B1. Questions about timing in a particular case may be directed to the firm through its contact page.