DOL Update : December 3, 2004
Posted Dec 03, 2004
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In a Notice in the Federal Register on November 29, 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that all Foreign Labor Certification field staff in the Dallas and Philadelphia Regional Offices have been moved to the Dallas and Philadelphia Backlog Elimination Centers (BECs). The BECs will now perform all foreign labor certification processing activities that had been conducted at these two regional offices.
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There is no PERM update. The PERM regulation remains pending with the OMB. We will continue to monitor the DOL's transition to determine whether PERM regulations will be published.
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Employers are directed to continue to file H2A, H2B, and permanent labor certifications with the appropriate State Workforce Agency (SWA) until the DOL issues further guidance on where to file such applications. The SWAs will forward these documents to the BECs, as and when directed.
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There is a new ETA 9035, Labor Condition Application (LCA), for H1Bs and H1B1s available on the LCA Online WebSite. The new form was required as of November 30, 2004 and now MUST be used. It was permissible to use the new form prior to that date. The new LCA incorporates the distinctions between H1B and H1B1 Chile and Singapore programs, updates the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval information, and removes the "Government Use Only" section. Also, the Washington DC address for H1B1 applications for Singapore and Chile was no longer valid as of November 30, 2004.