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H-1B petitions: Form I-129

How an H-1B petition is built, from registration and the labor condition application to the I-129 and its supplements, what changed in 2025 and 2026, and how Aion fills the form from the employer's and beneficiary's documents. Written for immigration attorneys, paralegals and DOJ-accredited representatives.

Last updated: 17 October 2026

The petition at a glance

• Who files: a U.S. employer or U.S. agent files Form I-129 for a beneficiary who will work in a specialty occupation. The petition must be filed with a Labor Condition Application (LCA) certified by the Department of Labor (USCIS).
• The cap: 65,000 new H-1B visas or statuses a fiscal year, plus 20,000 more for holders of a U.S. master's degree or higher. Institutions of higher education, affiliated nonprofits, and nonprofit and governmental research organizations are not subject to the cap. Cap-subject petitions must be based on a selected registration.
• Timing: a petition may not be filed more than 6 months before the requested start date, and cap petitions need a start date of October 1 or later.
• Stay: generally up to 3 years at first, extendable to a total of 6 years. A beneficiary who owns more than 50 percent of the petitioner, or has majority voting rights, is limited to 18-month initial and first-extension approvals.
• Form edition: the current Form I-129 is the 09/09/26 edition. From November 9, 2026 USCIS accepts only that edition. Until then it also accepts the 02/27/26 edition if postmarked or submitted electronically before that date (USCIS).
• Dependents: H-4 spouses and children file Form I-539. USCIS adjudicates them with the principal's petition only if they are filed together, at the same location, at the same time.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

Several H-1B rules moved this year. The status of each as of 17 October 2026, from the official sources:

Registration and selection

Every cap-subject petition starts with an electronic registration. For FY 2027 the initial registration period ran from March 4 to March 19, 2026, and USCIS announces the dates each year.

• Who registers: the employer, or its representative, through a USCIS organizational account. Each beneficiary is registered separately.
• What the registration needs: the beneficiary's valid passport or travel document details (entries such as "NA" or "00000" make a registration improperly submitted), the highest OEWS wage level the proffered wage meets for the SOC code and area of employment, and attestations under penalty of perjury that the offer is bona fide and that there was no collusion. Each registration carries a non-refundable fee listed on the Fee Schedule (USCIS).
• Selection: USCIS notifies registrants and their representatives through their online accounts. Only a registrant with a "Selected" notice for a specific beneficiary may file a cap petition for that beneficiary, within the filing window on the notice.
• Registration and petition must match. The petition must carry the Beneficiary Confirmation Number and a copy of the selection notice, the passport or travel document used at registration, and evidence of the basis for the wage level selected, such as a printout from the DOL OFLC Wage Search. The I-129 instructions say that if information on the registration and petition does not match, USCIS may reject or deny the petition.

The labor condition application

The employer files the LCA (Form ETA-9035/9035E) with the Department of Labor through the FLAG system before petitioning USCIS. DOL reviews it within seven working days for completeness and obvious errors, and it cannot be submitted more than 6 months before the start of the employment (DOL). The employer attests that it will pay at least the higher of the actual and prevailing wage, maintain working conditions that do not adversely affect similarly employed U.S. workers, that there is no strike or lockout at the worksite, and that notice has been given to the union or posted at the worksite (USCIS).

The LCA case number goes into Part 5 of the I-129, and the LCA has to correspond to the petition: job, SOC code, worksites and wage.

What the I-129 asks for

The I-129 has a main form and classification supplements. For an H-1B, the form is the main I-129 plus two supplements:

• Part 1 and Part 2: petitioner details, the classification (H-1B), the basis for filing (new employment, continuation, change in previously approved employment, new concurrent employment, change of employer or amended petition) and the requested action (notify a consulate or port of entry, change of status, extension, or amendment of stay).
• Part 3 and Part 4: beneficiary details and processing information, including consular notification, passport validity, other petitions filed together, dependents' applications, removal proceedings, and whether the beneficiary has held or been denied the classification in the last seven years.
• Part 5: job title, LCA case number, work addresses and whether any is a third-party location, off-site work, wages and dates, and business facts such as the number of employees and revenue.
• Part 6: the petitioner's certification on release of controlled technology or technical data to foreign persons. It is required for H-1B petitions.
• Parts 7 to 9: petitioner signature (original handwritten signatures are required), preparer details and additional information.
• H Classification Supplement: the beneficiary's prior periods of stay in H or L status over the last six years (with I-94 and I-797 copies), the selection notice confirmation number and registration passport details, the Guam-CNMI and controlling-interest questions, the proposed duties, the beneficiary's present occupation and work history, and the petitioner's agreements on the LCA terms and USCIS inspections.
• H-1B and H-1B1 Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement: employer facts (H-1B dependent, willful violator, 50-employee and 50-percent tests), the beneficiary's education and field of study, pay, SOC and NAICS codes, job requirements, the answers that decide which additional filing fees apply, the cap type and OEWS wage level, the reason for any cap exemption, and off-site assignment.

Specialty occupation evidence

The I-129 instructions define a specialty occupation as one that requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor's or higher degree in a directly related specific specialty, or its equivalent, as the minimum for entry. A position is not a specialty occupation if a general degree, without further specialization, is enough to qualify. "Directly related" means a logical connection between the degree and the duties of the position. The petition goes in with:

• a certified LCA;
• evidence that the proposed employment is a specialty occupation;
• evidence of a bona fide position in a specialty occupation as of the start date requested (specific day-to-day assignments for the whole period are not required);
• evidence the beneficiary has the required degree: a U.S. bachelor's or higher, a foreign degree with proof of equivalency, or education, training and progressively responsible experience equivalent to the U.S. degree;
• any license required to practice in the state of employment;
• any written contract with the beneficiary, or a summary of the terms of an oral agreement.

Premium processing (Form I-907)

H-1B is an eligible classification for premium processing. The employer or its representative files Form I-907, with the I-129 or later with a copy of the receipt notice. For H-1B, USCIS commits to take action within 15 business days of receiving a properly completed request with the correct fee, or it refunds the fee. A request for evidence or a notice of intent to deny stops that clock until USCIS receives the response. Paying for premium processing gives no advantage in the cap (USCIS).

Where H-1B petitions run into trouble

These are the points the I-129 instructions and USCIS guidance single out. A mismatch on any of them is a reason to expect questions from USCIS.

• Registration data that does not match the petition: passport, SOC code, wage level and area of employment.
• No evidence for the wage level selected at registration, or a proffered wage that does not meet the wage level on the registration.
• A position that looks like it needs only a general degree, or a degree field that is not directly related to the duties.
• No bona fide position at the start date, or duties and worksites that differ from the LCA.
• Third-party worksites. The modernization rule codified that where the beneficiary fills a position within a third party's organization, USCIS can treat the third party's requirements for the position as determinative, so the petitioner may need to evidence them (Federal Register). The I-129 asks about third-party locations, off-site work and compliance with off-site placement rules, and the H supplement has the petitioner agree to USCIS access to worksites for compliance reviews.
• Degree evidence: a foreign degree with no equivalency evaluation, or experience offered as an equivalent without enough detail.
• Prior H and L periods that do not add up with I-94 and approval notices, which affects the six-year limit.
• Beneficiary-owners, where the controlling-interest answer changes the approval period.
• The wrong form edition or an unsigned form. USCIS requires original handwritten signatures.

How Aion handles an H-1B petition

Aion fills Form I-129 for H-1B and H-2A, and it fills Form I-907 and Form G-28. Other I-129 classifications are not supported. For an H-1B, you can pick the I-129, I-907 and G-28 together at the start: the documents are read once, the forms fill one after another, and each is its own PDF.

1. Start an application in Aion, choose the forms, and add your firm's attorney or preparer details once in the firm profile.
2. Upload the documents: the beneficiary's passport, I-94 and prior approval notices, degree and credential evaluation, resume, the certified LCA, the registration selection notice for cap cases, the offer letter or employment agreement, the employer's corporate details and your intake notes. Files, a folder or a .zip all work.
3. Aion extracts everything into one summary and flags missing or contradictory information, such as a date or passport number that differs between two documents.
4. Your team reviews and edits the summary. The original documents are deleted as soon as extraction succeeds.
5. Aion fills the official, current-edition USCIS PDFs field by field, including the H Classification Supplement and the Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement. Your attorney or preparer details are copied exactly from the firm profile, matching the G-28.
6. Flagged fields are outlined in red on the PDF and listed in the app with a note. You can type an answer or mark a field "correct as is" in the app and download a corrected PDF, or edit in Acrobat. Answers too long for a box can go on a downloadable addendum page.
7. Your attorney reviews, the employer's authorized signatory signs, and your firm files. Aion never signs or files, and never logs into myUSCIS or any USCIS account.

H-4 dependents can be filled on Form I-539 and Form I-539A, which Aion also supports.

What stays with your firm

• Registering, selecting the wage level, and filing the LCA with DOL.
• Advising on the specialty occupation, the wage level and whether any payment or fee applies, including the proclamation payment while it is in litigation.
• The employer's attestations, the export-control certification in Part 6, signatures, fees and filing.

Worried about putting client data into an AI tool? Read Is it safe to use AI for US immigration forms? and our security summary. Comparing tools? See Aion vs Docketwise.

Sources: USCIS: H-1B specialty occupations · Form I-129 · Instructions for Form I-129 (09/09/26) · H-1B electronic registration · H-1B cap season · USCIS: proclamation and court order · White House: September 18, 2026 proclamation · Premium processing · Form I-907 · DOL: H-1B program · Federal Register: H-1B modernization final rule. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules, fees and court orders change. Check USCIS and DOL before relying on any figure here.