Labor Certification Update – June 2004 Posted Jun 18, 2004 ©MurthyDotCom This is an important transition time in the area of labor certification. It appears that many changes are imminent in the processing of labor certifications. In this article, we share with you updates on PERM, the backlog reductions for regular LC and RIR processes, and the Central Processing Group (CPG) case backlogs. Consolidating all processes nationally in one or two centers may result in certain efficiencies, but it is also expected to cause concerns; among them, that national offices no longer are able to expedite humanitarian or age-out cases. ©MurthyDotCom PERM Update ©MurthyDotCom Many people have asked why the PERM regulation is still pending with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), since the OMB has regulations requiring review within 90 days. The 90-day point was reached in late May 2004. As explained during the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Annual Conference held the second week of June 2004, the answer is that William Carlson, the Chief of the Foreign Labor Certification at the Department of Labor (DOL), had requested and was granted a 30-day extension to complete the OMB review. ©MurthyDotCom The 30-day extension was requested because a number of comments from interested government agencies suggested that OMB may not approve PERM. Mr. Carlson and his team at the DOL wanted the opportunity to address these comments before the OMB made a decision, to increase the chances for PERM to obtain OMB clearance and publication in the Federal Register. Mr. Carlson reported that the comments from the interested government agencies have now been addressed, and he expects to get the clearance from OMB at any time. It is estimated that PERM regulations could be issued within about a month's time - before the end of July 2004! The DOL confirmed the there will not be any fees under PERM, as there has been no legislation to implement fees in labor certification filings. ©MurthyDotCom LC/RIR Backlog Reduction Centers ©MurthyDotCom The backlog reduction centers to process regular LC and RIR cases pending all across the U.S. will be set up in Philadelphia and Dallas. These two centers are expected to be implemented and operational before PERM starts. PERM will be processed at two centers located in Atlanta and Chicago with jurisdiction over cases for the entire U.S. ©MurthyDotCom At this point, Mr. Carlson expects that the backlog centers will first handle cases from the Philadelphia and Dallas regions. After PERM is implemented, these backlog centers will also receive regular LC and RIR cases from the Atlanta and Chicago regions. Once case backlogs of these regions have been addressed, other regions will be phased into having their cases processed at these two national backlog centers. ©MurthyDotCom The DOL is hoping that the backlog centers to process regular LC and RIR cases will only be needed for about two years. This timeframe, however, will depend in part upon how many pending cases are converted to PERM and how many other cases will be withdrawn by employers. The backlog reduction centers will remain open until all non-PERM cases are adjudicated. Backlog reduction centers may try to target occupations where there are generally approvals or where there is one common employer, but there is no cohesive procedure in place yet. ©MurthyDotCom Age-Out Cases ©MurthyDotCom "Age-out" is the term used when a child turns 21 years of age and is no longer able to enjoy any immigration benefits from the parents under law. The national DOL office has no policy to permit expedited processing of age-out cases. Currently, most DOL regional offices will expedite age-out cases, if it is a labor certification case that does not appear to have any problems. The DOL has explained that, simply if a case has been requested to be processed as an expedited case, it will not avoid a Notice of Findings (NOF) if the DOL believes a NOF is needed. It is not clear whether the backlog reduction centers will expedite particular types of cases, on humanitarian or other grounds, such as age-outs. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) was passed into law in August 2002 to address the problem of children aging out. The CSPA, however, will only help a child who is has not yet turned 21 years of age at the time that the I-140 petition is filed. ©MurthyDotCom Central Processing Group ©MurthyDotCom The Central Processing Group (CPG) project was officially completed on May 28, 2004, although the original official deadline was December 31, 2003. The national DOL office started with approximately 3083 files. Of these, 2278 were processed with final actions. The national DOL office implemented validation checks on the pending cases, which led to 747 withdrawals or deactivations. On May 28, 2004, the national DOL office sent the remaining cases that had not been completed by the CPG to the regions and states to complete their processing of all cases for labor certification by the appropriate local or regional office. ©MurthyDotCom We will continue to monitor PERM and backlog reduction very closely to advise MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers of any future developments. © The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C.
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