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USCIS Urges H-2A and H-2B Petitioners to Use the New Form I-129

February 5, 2009

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) remind petitioners who participate in the H-2B nonagricultural temporary worker program to use the new Form I-129, "Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker," which contains the H Classification Supplement.

USCIS published the final rules for the H-2A classification (73 FR 76891) and the H-2B classification (73 FR 78104) in December 2008 with effective dates of Jan. 17, 2009, and Jan. 18, 2009, respectively. These final rules necessitated revising the H Classification Supplement to the Form I-129. The new Form I-129 with the Jan. 22, 2009 revision date incorporates all necessary changes on account of the H-2A and H-2B final rules and should be used in lieu of the older version. Petitioners who file using an older version of the form for the H-2A and H-2B classifications will experience delays because they will receive a request for the revised H Classification Supplement to the Form I-129. Although previous editions of the Form I-129 are still accepted, petitioners seeking H-2A and H-2B classifications are urged to use the most current version of the Form I-129.