USCIS Update Notice: Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
USCIS updated:
Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
(Petitioners use this form to file on behalf of a nonimmigrant worker to come to the United States temporarily to perform services or labor, or to receive training, as an H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, L-1, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1 or R-1 nonimmigrant worker. Petitioners may also use this form to request an extension of stay in or change of status to E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B1 or TN, or one of the above classifications for an alien.)
Edition Date: 01/20/25. Starting July 30, 2025, we will accept only the 01/20/25 edition. Until then, you can also use the 01/17/25 edition. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions.
For more information, please visit the Forms Updates page.
Resources for U.S. Citizens & Visa Applications Impacted by Conflicts in the Middle East
AILA Practice Pointer: Resources for U.S. Citizens & Consular Updates for NIV/IV Processing Impacted by the Conflicts in the Middle East (June 17, 2025)
AILA’s Department of State (DOS) Liaison Committee provides the following resource to help members understand the current state of consular operations and U.S. Citizen Services for individuals impacted by the current crisis in the Middle East. Due to the fluid and dynamic nature of these events, please check U.S. Embassy and official government websites for the most up-to-date information.
Iraq: On June 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel from Iraq due to “heightened regional tensions.”
For updates on current status of consular services, access the U.S. Embassy in Iraq website at https://iq.usembassy.gov/
Israel: On June 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of State authorized the voluntary departure of family members and non-emergency U.S. government employees from Israel due to “the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.” The United States does not have diplomatic relations with the West Bank separately from Israel. Additionally, the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Gaza, as the U.S. government has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
For updates on current status of consular services, access the U.S. Embassy in Israel website at https://il.usembassy.gov/
For updates on Department of State advice to U.S. citizens regarding Gaza and the West Bank, access the U.S. Embassy in Israel website at https://il.usembassy.gov/
Iran: The United States has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since April 7, 1980, following the seizure by student militants of the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. Switzerland currently serves as the protecting power for U.S. interests in Iran. On June 15, 2025, the State Department advised that U.S. citizens should not travel to Iran for any reason and should depart Iran immediately if they are there.
For updates on the Department of State advice to U.S. citizens regarding Iran, access the Virtual U.S. Embassy for Iran at https://ir.usembassy.gov/
General Advice for U.S. Citizens
Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security updates.
Receive alerts from the U.S. Department of state’s Bureau of Consular Affairs via WhatsApp.
Prepare a plan for emergency situations. Review the Traveler’s Checklist.
Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter/X.
Monitor local media for information.
Contact information for U.S. Consular Services in Iraq
Immigrant visa applications: BaghdadIV@state.gov
Non-immigrant visa applications: BaghdadNIV@state.gov
American Citizen Services BaghdadACS@state.gov
U.S. Embassy Baghdad
Al-Kindi Street
International Zone
Baghdad, Iraq
Business Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sunday through Thursday
Telephone: +964-760-030-3000 or +1-301-985-8841 from the United States
Emergency after-hours telephone: +964-760-030-3000 or +1-301-985-8841, and ask for the duty officer
Email: BaghdadACS@state.gov
U.S. Consulate General Erbil
413 Ishtar, Ankawa
Erbil, Iraq
Business Hours: 8:00am to 5:00pm, Sunday through Thursday
Telephone: +964-66-211-4000 or +1-240-264-3467, ext. 4554, from the United States
Emergency after-hours telephone: +964-66-211-4000 or +1-240-264-3467, ext. 4554, and ask for the duty officer
Email: ErbilACS@state.gov
Contact Information for U.S. Consular Services in Israel
NIV Unit - JerusalemNIV@state.gov
NIV Processing - https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-il/niv/information/contact_us
IV Unit – JerusalemIVAttorneys@state.gov
IV Processing - https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-il/iv/information/contact_us
U.S. Embassy Jerusalem
14 David Flusser St. Jerusalem
Telephone: +972-2-630-4000
E-mail: Website: https://il.usembassy.gov/
U.S. Embassy Branch Office Tel Aviv
71 HaYarkon St. Tel Aviv
Telephone: +972-3-519-7575
E-mail: Website: https://il.usembassy.gov/
State Department – Consular Affairs 888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444
Contact Information for U.S. Citizen Services in Gaza and the West Bank
U.S. Embassy Jerusalem
14 David Flusser St. Jerusalem
Telephone: +972-2-630-4000
E-mail: JerusalemACS@state.gov
Website: https://il.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/
Contact Information for U.S. Citizen Services in Iran
Email the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland at BernACS@state.gov. Include “IRN” in the subject line. Include:
Full name as shown on U.S. passport
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
U.S. passport number
Current location
Phone number
If a dual national, the other country of nationality
Whether the individual is in possession of a valid travel document
Call +1-888-407-4747 or +1-202-501-4444
Contact Information for U.S. Citizen Services in Gaza and the West Bank
U.S. Embassy Jerusalem
14 David Flusser St. Jerusalem
Telephone: +972-2-630-4000
E-mail: JerusalemACS@state.gov
Website: https://il.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/
Contact Information for U.S. Citizen Services in Iran
Email the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland at BernACS@state.gov. Include “IRN” in the subject line. Include:
Full name as shown on U.S. passport
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
U.S. passport number
Current location
Phone number
If a dual national, the other country of nationality
Whether the individual is in possession of a valid travel document
Call +1-888-407-4747 or +1-202-501-4444
International Travel Advisories & Alerts2
Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza travel Advisory (June 16, 2025)
Iran Security Alert: Threat of Additional Military Strikes (June 13, 2025)
Security Alert – Exercise Increased Caution in the Region (June 12, 2025)
Iraq Travel Advisory: Level 4: Do Not Travel (June 11, 2025)
Federal Judge Blocked the Trump Administration from Limiting Passport Sex Markers for Many Transgender and Nonbinary Americans
Associated Press//June 18, 2025//
“A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from limiting passport sex markers for many transgender and nonbinary Americans.
The June 17 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick means that transgender or nonbinary people who are without a passport or need to apply for a new one can request a male, female or “X” identification marker rather than being limited to the marker that matches the gender assigned at birth.
In an executive order signed in January, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order said a person is male or female and rejected the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender.
Kobick first issued a preliminary injunction against the policy last month, but that ruling applied only to six people who joined with the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit over the passport policy.
In the June 17 ruling, she agreed to expand the injunction to include transgender or nonbinary people who are currently without a valid passport, those whose passport is expiring within a year, and those who need to apply for a passport because theirs was lost or stolen or because they need to change their name or sex designation.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The government failed to show that blocking its policy would cause it any constitutional injury, Kobick wrote, or harm the executive branch’s relations with other countries.
The transgender and nonbinary people covered by the preliminary injunction, meanwhile, have shown that the passport policy violates their constitutional rights to equal protection, Kobick said.
“Even assuming a preliminary injunction inflicts some constitutional harm on the Executive Branch, such harm is the consequence of the State Department’s adoption of a Passport Policy that likely violates the constitutional rights of thousands of Americans,” Kobick wrote.
Kobick, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, had granted the ACLU’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
“The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny,” Kobick wrote in the preliminary injunction issued earlier this year. “That standard requires the government to demonstrate that its actions are substantially related to an important governmental interest. The government has failed to meet this standard.”
In its lawsuit, the ACLU described how one woman had her passport returned with a male designation while others are too scared to submit their passports because they feared their applications might be suspended and their passports held by the State Department.
Another mailed in their passport on Jan. 9 and requested to change their name and their sex designation from male to female. That person was still waiting for their passport, the ACLU said in the lawsuit, and feared missing a family wedding and a botany conference this year.
In response to the lawsuit, the Trump administration argued that the passport policy change “does not violate the equal protection guarantees of the Constitution.” It also contended that the president has broad discretion in setting passport policy and that plaintiffs would not be harmed since they are still free to travel abroad.”
U.S. District Court Judge Asks How the Government Defines DEI
“US District Judge William G. Young on Thursday pointedly questioned a government lawyer in Boston on how the Trump administration defines DEI — the acronym for diversity, equity, and inclusion — as a rationale to slash more than $1 billion in medical research grants.
“When you say to me, DEI, as though that’s bad, I don’t understand what that means,” Young told Anuj Khetarpal, a federal attorney who had asked the judge to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to halt funding cuts by the National Institutes of Health.
“Someone’s got to help me on that,” Young added. “I’m not making policy statements. I’m asking for a definition of a policy that squares with what I had always understood were the defining elements of the American experience.”
“Does that mean our policy is homogeneity, inequity, and exclusion? I mean, are you going to stand there and tell me, that now is the policy of the National Institutes of Health?” Young asked.
“Your honor,” Khetarpal replied, “I am not making that assertion.”
“It would be a breathtaking assertion,” Young said.”
As reported in Boston Globe
Link: Nationwide Injunction on Student SEVIS term cases.
Announcement of Expanded Screening and Vetting for Visa Applicants
June 18, 2025
The State Department is committed to protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process. A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right.
We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to U.S. national security. Under new guidance, we will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications.
To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to “public.”
Our overseas posts will resume scheduling F, M, and J nonimmigrant visa applications soon. Applicants should check the relevant embassy or consulate website for appointment availability.
Every visa adjudication is a national security decision. The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission.”
E-Verify Corrects Erroneous Issuance Of Final Non-Confirmation Notice
“…on May 19, 2025, E-Verify issued a notice to alert employers to a technical issue that has resulted in the issuance of erroneous final nonconfirmations (FNCs) for E-Verify cases that were referred between April 9, 2025 and May 5, 2025. See example below.
The Committee recommends that employers with any FNCs review this alert to determine if their cases fall under this technical issue.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) states that employers should not take any adverse action, nor terminate the employment of individuals that received a FNC during this identified time period.
Supreme Court “De-Documents” 350,000 Venezuelans – And Keeps Everyone In The Dark About What’s Next
Posted by Dara Lind | May 21, 2025 | Humanitarian Protection, Temporary Protected Status
The American Immigration Council does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. We aim to provide analysis regarding the implications of the election on the U.S. immigration system.
Here are the messages that the 350,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. who were granted Temporary Protected Status in 2023 have heard from the federal government since January:
January 17: You can keep your TPS protections until fall 2026.
January 28: We’re reviewing whether you can keep your TPS protections.
February 5: Your TPS protections will expire on April 7, 2025.
March 31: Your TPS protections can remain valid while a lawsuit about them is pending.
May 19: Your TPS protections have already been revoked. Probably. We assume.
With that last one – a single-page unsigned order, which, technically speaking, overruled an order to postpone the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of TPS for Venezuela – the Supreme Court achieved what law professors believe to be the biggest instantaneous “de-documentation” of immigrants in U.S. history. 350,000 people who woke up on Monday with legal status in the U.S. went to bed Monday without it.
Probably. We assume.
The lack of clarity is maddening. But it’s, in a way, the logical endpoint of the way TPS holders have always had to live their lives – 18 months at a time – and of the Trump administration’s insistence on pulling the rug out from under people who had filed their papers with the U.S. in exchange for permission to stay.
The Supreme Court’s Legal Triple Negative
Going into the procedural details of how all of this happened will not exactly make the constant flip-flops any less confusing, but here goes:
In 2023, President Biden decided that conditions in Venezuela were bad enough that it would be inappropriate to deport anyone there, and therefore Venezuelans in the United States needed Temporary Protected Status (if they lacked other legal status) to remain here legally until conditions improved. He both extended TPS for Venezuela – allowing people who had received TPS after it was first offered in 2021 to renew it for an additional 18 months, which would be added to the end of their existing TPS period – and redesignated it, allowing Venezuelans who had arrived since 2021 to apply for TPS for the first time and receive 18 months of protections.
As many as 350,000 people took the government up on the offer, receiving protections through April 2025. Many of them – about 67,000 – had arrived in the United States with a different form of temporary protection: they were paroled in under the Biden administration’s “CHNV” (Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan) program, with protections that expired after two years. Applying for TPS allowed someone whose parole was set to expire in January 2025, for example, to give themselves an extra few months, a more durable form of protection, and the potential for further extensions if the executive branch chose to give them.
A few days before leaving office, the Biden administration published a notice that essentially combined the 2021 and 2023 TPS timelines, and allowed both to reapply for TPS through September 2026. The Trump administration seized on this move, and moved within days of its inauguration to vacate Biden’s decision; a few days later, it issued its own proclamation, saying it would be ending TPS for the 2023-protected Venezuelans after all, and they would lose their legal status on April 7.
TPS holders sued the administration over the bait-and-switch. In an order issued mere weeks before the expiration date, a federal judge ordered DHS to “postpone the effective date” of its decision to end TPS for Venezuela, while the lawsuit over the legality of the decision was ongoing.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the postponement. The Supreme Court, on Monday, overturned it.
So if the termination of TPS would have gone into effect already, but it was postponed, and now it’s been unpostponed, that means it’s implicitly already in effect…right?
Here’s the problem: the Supreme Court didn’t actually clarify whether the termination is in effect now, or whether the government has to do something to make the original April 7 termination effective. Litigators in the case say that it’s up to the government to make the next move, and announce how it is interpreting the court’s order – which is to say, whether it considers all 350,000 Venezuelans to be already out of status and potentially subject to removal, or whether it’s going to set a new date by which they will become so. (The litigators aren’t saying that whatever the government does will be legally correct, just that they have to take the initiative.)
As of Tuesday evening, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services webpage about TPS for Venezuela had not been updated to reflect Monday’s ruling. It still said that work permits issued to 2023 TPS holders would be auto-extended through next April – “under protest pursuant to court order.”
Leaving TPS Holders To Gamble with Their Freedom
TPS holders are already in a “liminal status” that they can never convert to permanent residency, and every expiration date brings with it the possibility that the president won’t grant another extension – underlined during Trump’s first term when he tried to do just that for hundreds of thousands of people from Haiti, El Salvador, and others. Those terminations were held up in court until President Biden took office and undid them.
Telling people they would be able to plan for another 18 months of life in the United States, then telling them they had just over 60 days to leave, is a different category of arbitrariness. (Technically, the Supreme Court acknowledged, people who had already applied for and received new TPS grants between January 17 and February 5 might legally be allowed to keep them – but given the processing time for TPS applications, it is highly unlikely any such people exist.) The cruelty is especially apparent given that, in the weeks before the April 7 expiration date, TPS holders in the US saw their compatriots deported without hearings and sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison under the Alien Enemies Act — including at least four people with active TPS.
The threat of detention and deportation was terrifying. The court ruling postponing the termination offered little psychological relief to Venezuelan TPS holders. One Venezuelan advocate described her state of mind this way to Politico in the days following the reprieve: “It’s exhausting, it’s disheartening, it’s painful and I’m not going to lie, last night I cried.”
The Supreme Court’s order shows why they were uncomforted. What courts grant, courts can take away. Probably. We assume.
Add to this the fact that some Venezuelans who have TPS may also still be within the two-year window for their CHNV parole to be valid – except that the Trump administration is trying to kill that, too. That termination has also been held up in court (for now), but the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling, too. A decision could come any day.
The lack of clarity on the question of whether TPS has already been terminated has enormous real-world stakes. Should someone with TPS show up to work their next shift, on a work permit that was valid on Monday morning but may now be (in legal terms) six weeks past its expiration date? Should they cancel their leases and buy plane tickets, or keep studying for their final exams at school? If they are arrested, will the ICE agents accept the explanation that no one appears to know if they have valid papers or not?
The strategy of this administration is to cast as broad a net of enforcement as possible – and to make it clear even to those who aren’t caught up in it today that they could be caught up in it tomorrow. But the rule of law is built on certainty and predictability. A legal regime under which people can have their status taken away from them in a day, without even a clear explanation that that’s happened, fully undermines both of those. A law that can’t be relied on isn’t a law anyone can live by.
Recent H-1B Rule Extends F-1 Cap-Gap Extension
April 28, 2025
If you are an F-1 student planning to transition to H-1B employment, recent changes to the H-1B program may directly impact you.
As of January 17, 2025, DHS implemented a final H-1B rule that extends the cap-gap extensions of eligible F-1 students from October 1 to April 1 of the relevant fiscal year. The cap-gap period previously ended on October 1. With this extension, the cap-gap period now ends April 1 of the relevant fiscal year. This rule will be applied to eligible F-1 students who are a beneficiary of a timely filed H-1B cap-subject petition beginning with the FY 2026 H-1B registration period.
What Is the Cap-Gap Extension?
The “cap-gap” refers to the period between the expiration of an F-1 student’s program of study (or optional practical training (OPT) and the start of H-1B employment. To bridge this period, DHS has historically allowed an automatic extension of F-1 status and employment authorization for students with a timely filed cap-subject H-1B petitions, but only up to October 1.
What Has Changed?
Under the new H-1B rule, the cap-gap extension has been expanded. Eligible F-1 students may now receive an automatic extension of both their F-1 status and work authorization until April 1 of the fiscal year for which the H-1B petition is filed. This change is intended to provide added flexibility for foreign students and prevent disruptions in lawful status or employment authorization that may occur due to delays in USCIS adjudication or processing timelines.
Who Is Eligible?
You may qualify for extended cap-gap if:
You are in a valid period of F-1 status (to be eligible for an extension of employment you must be in a valid period of post-completion OPT or science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) OPT.
You have not violated the terms or conditions of your immigration status.
You are a beneficiary of a timely filed cap-subject H-1B petition that requests the following:
· A change of status to H-1B and not consular processing; and
· An employment start date in the fiscal year for which such H-1B status is being requested
If the H-1B petition is denied, withdrawn, rejected or revoked, the automatic cap-gap extension is terminated immediately. In such cases, the foreign student is no longer authorized to work in the United States under F-1 status and has a 60-day grace period to prepare for departure.
For further guidance, consult your designated school official to ensure you meet all requirements and deadlines.
Link: Recent H-1B Rule Extends F-1 Cap-Gap Extension | Study in the States
USCIS Announces Employment Authorization Document Application Procedures for Certain Hong Kong Residents Covered by Deferred Enforced Departure
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today posted a Federal Register notice for public inspection establishing procedures for certain Hong Kong residents covered by Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to apply for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) that will be valid through Feb. 5, 2027. The notice automatically extends through Feb. 5, 2027, the validity of current Hong Kong DED-related EADs with an expiration date of Feb. 5, 2023, or Feb. 5, 2025, and a Category Code of A11. Employees may present this EAD as evidence of identity and employment authorization for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
A memorandum on DED was issued on Jan. 15, 2025, deferring through Feb. 5, 2027, the removal of certain eligible Hong Kong residents who were present in the United States as of Jan. 15, 2025.
There is no application for DED. Certain Hong Kong residents are covered under DED based on the terms described in the memorandum and are authorized to work in the United States. Eligible Hong Kong residents can apply for an EAD by filing Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. The Department of Homeland Security may provide travel authorization at its discretion to those covered under DED. Individuals who wish to travel outside of the United States and re-enter must file Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records.
USCIS adjudicates each request for an EAD on a case-by-case basis to determine if it meets all standards and eligibility criteria and completes screening and vetting to determine if there are any fraud, public safety or national security concerns.