On September 15, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (now the USCIS) issued a memorandum to all service centers in the country. The subject of the memorandum was the “Sunset of Additional $1,000 Filing Fee Imposed by American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA) and Return to 65,000 Annual Limit on H-1B Petition Approvals.”  The purpose of this memorandum, as the title suggests, was to inform the service centers that H-1B petitioners who file petitions after October 1, 2003, will no longer be required to submit the additional filing fee of $1,000. Also, the annual cap on H-1B petition approvals will fall back from 195,000 to 65,000 beginning in fiscal year 2004.

For those who are filing their H-1B petition on or after October 1, 2003, it should be noted that if the $1,000 additional filing fee and the base fee of $130 are made in a single remittance, the petition will be rejected as improperly filed. If the fees are in separate remittances, then the $1,000 ACWIA fee may be rejected and the petition and filing fee accepted. Also, the I-129W, H-1B Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption must still be filed in conjunction with the I-129 form for an H-1B nonimmigrant worker petition. The filing fee information in Part B can be omitted. The form I-129W would also help ensure USCIS’ adherence to the H-1B numerical limitations imposed by law.