Starting today, companies applying for an H-1B visa can again pay extra to get a decision within 15 calendar days.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had suspended premium processing for H-1B visas in April to help clear the application backlog. That suspension was extended in September and was expected to last until February 19.

Premium processing is now back for applications for the 85,000 visas for fiscal year 2019, which includes 20,000 visas for applicants with an advanced degree from a U.S. institution.

The H-1B has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate and a target for President Donald Trump, particularly over use of the visa by outsourcers, which rake in the lion’s share of H-1Bs, mostly for bachelor’s degree holders. Heavily relied upon by large technology companies, the visa has been condemned by critics as a mechanism for supplanting American workers with cheaper foreign labor.

Sam Adair, an immigration attorney with Graham Adair, said the news has limited benefit because it only applies to application submitted in April — about nine months ago.

“It’s not super super helpful to employers or these individuals, because it’s already been so long,” Adair said. “This is something that would’ve been really nice five months ago.”

Adair estimated that only about 5 percent of the fiscal 2019 applications are still outstanding and could still benefit from premium processing being re-instated. And although the goal of the suspension was to address the H-1B backlog, Adair said he’s only seen it grow during that time, to the worst he ever seen.

William Stock, a member of Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP, told Forbes late last year that without premium processing, applications typically take five to seven months. Few businesses, he said, could easily wait that long when they’re trying to hire a new foreign worker.

Adair said he also doesn’t expect USCIS to make the premium processing available in the near future — applications fiscal 2020 H-1B visas are due in early April.

“I think that there’s really almost zero change they’ll re-instate premium processing for the fiscal year 2020,” he said.

Late last year, USCIS increased the premium processing fee by about 15 percent, up to $1,410. The fee guarantees an answer within 15 days, but it doesn’t ensure that an applicant will be approved for a visa.

USCIS received 190,098 H-1B applications for fiscal 2019.