U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a new edition of Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, dated 09/09/26. The updated form implements changes tied to the "9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee for H-1B and L-1 Visas" final rule, published in the Federal Register on August 10, 2026, and effective September 9, 2026. Form I-129 is the workhorse petition used by employers to sponsor foreign nationals for a range of nonimmigrant classifications, including H-1B specialty occupation workers, L-1 intracompany transferees, O-1 individuals of extraordinary ability, and several other visa categories, so this update touches a broad swath of employment-based immigration filings.

For now, employers have flexibility. USCIS will accept either the new 09/09/26 edition or the prior 02/27/26 edition of Form I-129 during a transition window. That flexibility ends on November 9, 2026. Beginning that date, USCIS will accept only the 09/09/26 edition, and any petition using the 02/27/26 edition will be rejected if it is postmarked or submitted electronically on or after November 9, 2026. Petitions using the older edition that are postmarked or submitted before that date will still be accepted. Employers and practitioners should treat November 9, 2026 as a hard deadline: filings mailed even one day late on the outdated form risk outright rejection, which can be especially costly for time-sensitive matters such as change-of-status requests, extensions nearing expiration, or cap-subject petitions with fixed start dates.

The new edition's connection to the biometric entry-exit fee rule is important for employers who sponsor H-1B or L-1 workers. That rule introduces new fee obligations associated with biometric entry-exit tracking for these categories, and the revised form is designed to capture the information and attestations necessary to implement it. Employers currently sponsoring H-1B or L-1 employees, or planning new petitions in these categories, should budget for potential additional costs and confirm with counsel exactly how the fee applies to their specific filing.

Given the compressed timeline, we recommend that any employer with an I-129 petition in progress or planned for the coming months begin transitioning to the 09/09/26 edition now rather than waiting until the November deadline approaches. Our team is closely monitoring implementation guidance from USCIS and can help ensure your petitions are filed on the correct form, with the right fees, well before the transition deadline.

If you have questions about how this change affects an upcoming or pending petition, please contact our office at 703-348-1663.

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