USCIS Temporarily Suspends Export Control Attestations on New Form I-129
As part of its Form I-129 revision on November 23, 2010, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) added a new Part 6 to Form I-129, the petition form used for most non-immigrant employment classifications. The new Part 6 states the following:
With respect to the technology or technical data the petitioner will release or otherwise provide access to the beneficiary, the petitioner certifies that it has reviewed the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and has determined that:
- A license is not required from either the U.S. Department of Commerce or the U.S. Department of State to release such technology or technical data to the foreign person; or
- A license is required from the U.S. Department of Commerce and/or the U.S. Department of State to release such technology or technical data to the beneficiary and the petitioner will prevent access to the controlled technology or technical data to the beneficiary until and unless the petitioner has received the required license or other authorization to release it to the beneficiary.
Clearly, many employers will not know whether their disclosure of certain information to the Beneficiary during the course of his or her employment will violate these regulations. In response to requests by numerous stakeholders to delay the implementation of this requirement, USCIS has now announced that the export control attestations (Part 6 of Form I-129) are suspended temporary for 60 days (until February 20, 2011) to allow employers to institute or modify the necessary internal processes to be able to provide accurate attestations with respect to the export control section.