U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said today that beginning Aug. 5, it will reject any Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker that does not include the applicant or petitioner’s name and primary U.S. office address in Part 1 of the form.

The agency said the failure to include the right name and address on the correct part of the form leads to “unnecessary delays in the adjudication of Form I-129 and may result in its rejection.” USCIS specified that applicants and petitioners must not use the address of their outside counsel or clients instead of their own office address.

Federal regulations allow USCIS to reject any benefit request that is not filled out correctly. USCIS currently rejects forms that have the incorrect fees, lack a signature or have a signature by an unauthorized third party.

BAL Analysis: Employers are encouraged to work with BAL to ensure that all Form I-129 petitions are filled out and filed properly. Failure to do so may result in unnecessary delays or rejection.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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