05/08/2009

Dear Subscriber:

On March 20, 2009 USCIS announced its revision of Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, to include a question asking whether the petitioner has received covered funding under the “Employ American Workers Act” (EAWA) that was signed into law on February 17, 2009. Accordingly, on March 24, 2009, USCIS posted the revised Form I-129 with a revision date of March 11, 2009.

Faculty and Scholar Services has been advised by USCIS  that all petitions must include the Rev. 3/11/09 version of the Form I-129. FSS posted the new Form I-129, which comprises 26 pages, on the its website and requires that all H-1B, TN, E-3 and O-1 petition packets submitted to FSS after May 1, 2009 include the 03/11/09 version:

http://www.ufic.ufl.edu/downloads/ifss/I-129_H1B.pdf

Please note that all 26 pages of the new form should not be submitted when sponsoring applicable non-immigrant status, such as H-1B. However, effective May 4, 2009, all University of Florida H-1B petition packets must include pages 1 – 4 , 8 – 9, and 13 – 15, as the revised H-1B petition filing instructions indicate on the FSS website.

The new H-1B Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement spans three pages and includes an additional question: 1.d. Has the petitioner received TARP funding? The University’s current response is “No.” 

 Also note the following application filing requirements for other employment-based nonimmigrant statuses :

TN Petitions: Form I-129 w/ pages 1 – 4 and page 7

O-1 Petitions: Form I-129  w/ pages 1 – 4 and page 18

E-3 Petitions: Form I-129 w/ pages 1– 4 and pages 5-6

Your following these new procedures immediately will prevent delays in the FSS petition review process. Your cooperation will be sincerely appreciated.

Faculty and Scholar Services
International Center