ImmigrationTracker Deploys New I-129 Form Within Hours of Its Release by the USCIS

    SAN FRANCISCO, CA, March 24, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- ImmigrationTracker (http://immigrationtracker.com) the developer of immigration management software used by 75% of top-rated immigration law firms and many of the Fortune 1000 companies, has released the new I-129 form (rev. 03/11/2009) within hours of it being posted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) web site. Users of Tracker's immigration management system can now immediately access and complete the new form.

The USCIS revised the Form I-129, which is the primary form used to file a petition for a nonimmigrant worker (e.g., H-1B, L-1, O-1, etc.), to include a new question asking whether the petitioner has received funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) or under section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act. Under recently passed legislation, employers who receive such funds may need to make additional attestations to the U.S. Department of Labor that no U.S. workers have been displaced. They may also have to actively recruit U.S. citizens or permanent residents before hiring foreign national employees in H-1B status.

The USCIS posted the revised form on their web site (http://www.uscis.gov) on Friday, March 20, 2009, just twelve days before the new H-1B cap filing season begins (April 1, 2009). Although previous versions of the form will be accepted, the USCIS still urged H-1B petitioners who have already prepared packages for mailing using the previous Form I-129 (January 2009 version) to complete the new page which contains the TARP funding question and include it with the prepared package.

"It's become an almost annual tradition for the USCIS to release new forms right before H-1B cap filing season," said Mark Koestler, who is a Partner and Business Immigration Co-Chair at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP in New York City. "While it is reassuring to know that USCIS will accept the old form, we feel it is critical to use the latest version during H-1B filing season, when there is absolutely no margin for error."

As the only immigration management software company with in-house immigration attorneys, ImmigrationTracker spotted the new I-129 form when it initially cleared OMB (Office of Management and Budget) review on March 10, 2009 in draft form. All form changes were then carefully reviewed and development staff were assigned to update the form after USCIS posting.

As Marie Bullamore, Docketing Administrator at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, noted, "Being able to evaluate the Service's recommendations based purely on legal and client considerations, without worrying about technical considerations, is exactly what we need."

ImmigrationTracker is committed to providing clients with the most accurate and up-to-date legal content in the industry along with award-winning US-based support and technical expertise.

About ImmigrationTracker

Since 1998, ImmigrationTracker has been the choice for immigration management software among Fortune 1000 companies, universities, hospitals, NGOs, and AmLaw 200 firms. Founded by Fred Colman with legal guidance from co-founder attorney Julie Pearl, ImmigrationTracker develops software products used by more leading law firms than all other competing software programs combined. With a staff of accomplished attorneys and software designers, ImmigrationTracker offers employment and immigration solutions for today's complex global workforce.

For more information contact:

Javier Rey
888-466-8757
[email protected]
http://www.immigrationtracker.com/

# # #