Selecting Who Will File the Petition
U.S.-based employers, agents, managers, sponsors, presenters, organizers, and U.S. agents appointed for the purpose by the alien(s) all may file I-129 petitions. The principal burden these individuals or entities assume in so doing is representing to USCIS, under oath, that the contents of the petition are, to the best of their knowledge, true. (Note that non-U.S.-based individuals or entities specifically are barred from filing O/P petitions.)
Whether a petition is filed on behalf of a single employer or multiple employers, there is no requirement that the petitioner and beneficiary have an employment or other specific type of relationship. The regulations state generally that a U.S. employer, U.S. sponsoring organization, U.S. agent or foreign employer through a U.S. agent may file a petition. The regulations, 8 CFR ยง 214.2(o)(2)(iv)(E), further state:
A United States agent may file a petition in cases involving workers who are traditionally self-employed or workers who use agents to arrange short-term employment on their behalf with numerous employers, and in cases where a foreign employer authorizes the agent to act on its behalf. A United States agent may be: the actual employer of the beneficiary; the representative of both the employer and the beneficiary; or, a person or entity authorized by the employer to act for, or in place of, the employer as its agent.
See our section on Multiple Venue Petitions for more information.