January 2006 Update on BPCs Posted Feb 03, 2006 ©MurthyDotCom The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) received an update on the Backlog Processing Centers (BPCs) from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in late January 2006. Highlights are included here for the benefit of our MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers. ©MurthyDotCom DOL Regional Offices Closed ©MurthyDotCom The DOL regional offices that remained open beyond the time that files began moving to the BPCs now finally have been closed. All cases not completed by those DOL regional offices have been transferred to the BPCs. While a precise count has not been taken, the DOL estimates the number of these cases to be about 2000. If the regional offices took action on the cases, the information on the cases is in the old computer system rather than the BPC computer system. The BPC officers will be able to complete processing on these cases, however. ©MurthyDotCom Specific Goals and Challenges ©MurthyDotCom The DOL is looking at how to align the processing and procedures that are occurring at the two BPCs and how to implement best practices. There is no deadline for this action. ©MurthyDotCom It is the intent of the DOL still to send the 45-day letters on all cases by June 2006. Data entry of all cases at the BPCs should also be complete by that time, but DOL expressed hope in having this task completed earlier. ©MurthyDotCom The DOL confirms that there have been some cases that they are unable to locate in response to screenshot requests for H1B extensions beyond the 6-year limit. The DOL speculates that these may be cases that were cancelled or terminated at the state level and, therefore, never shifted from the state to the BPC. They did not indicate how much such cases may exist. ©MurthyDotCom If a traditional labor certification case is converted to a reduction in recruitment (RIR) case, the DOL has stated that the case will be put into the line of RIR cases to be processed according to its original priority date. ©MurthyDotCom Conclusion ©MurthyDotCom We thank the DOL for this update. MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers will be provided with more information on the BPCs as it becomes available. Copyright © 2006, MURTHY LAW FIRM. All Rights Reserved
	Disclaimer : The information provided at this site is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or under all circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy or establish an attorney-client relationship. Copyright : Documents from this site may be printed for personal use as long as the copyright notices are included on the print-outs and the documents are not modified or altered.