Filing Requirements Change For All H-1B Petitioning
Employers:
On March 30th, 2000, thirty days from publication in the
Federal Register, all H-1B petitions must be accompanied by
Form I-129W. Introduced originally in December 1998 to
identify H-1B employers exempt from the $500 H-1B petition
fee required by the American Competitiveness and Workforce
Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA), a new version of the Form
I-129W, dated 12/22/99, will now be required from each H-1B
petitioning employer. The new form will request information
that is necessary for INS to comply with statistical and
reporting requirements also mandated by ACWIA.
The revised form will capture information on the H-1B
position, the industry of the petitioning employer and the
named H-1B worker's highest level of education,
compensation, and country of origin. Once the revised Form
I-129W becomes mandatory on March 30th, a complete H-1B
petition will consist of "Petition for Nonimmigrant
Worker" (Form I-129), revised Form I-129W, filing fees
($110 for Form I-129 plus additional $500 H-1B Petitioner
fee, if applicable) and supporting documentation. Before
that date, use of the revised form is optional. After that
date, H-1B petitions filed either without the revised Form
I-129W or with previous versions of Form I-129W will be
rejected.
Additional information will be posted below as it becomes
available. Topics will include:
New form I-129W,
dated 12/22/99
Federal Regulation relating to deterrence of H-1B fraud
(currently pending publication)
Federal Regulation relating to extension of the period of
duration of status for certain F and J (currently pending
publication)
nonimmigrants named as beneficiaries of H-1B petitions
filed before the annual cap is reached (currently pending
publication)
