News Update - December 15, 2007

By Alan Lee, Esq.

PERM Labor Certification News & Hints

With the Backlog Elimination Centers closed as of September 30, 2007 except for some pending pre-PERM labor certifications (traditional (TR) and reduction-in-recruitment (RIR)), the national processing centers have been beefed up and are scrutinizing PERM applications and issuing a greater number of audit requests. Processing times have not been established for applications or audit adjudications. The rise in audits means that great care must more than ever be given to the preparation and filing of labor certification applications. The free-wheeling days of loose adjudications wherein normally bad applications were approved without comment appear to be in the past.

Employers are advised to check their email regularly and accept telephone calls from the Department of Labor. Sometimes within 24 hours of on-line filing but usually within one week, the Department of Labor will call to confirm the existence of the job offer and verify information. If the call is not taken or email not answered, the application can be denied.

Audits are done for several reasons including restrictive requirements, but also on a random basis without a stated reason. Employer and attorney vigilance is important as audits become more frequent.

Employers frustrated with PERM delays or unsure of the status of their applications can check the status of their cases at www.plc.doleta.gov. The employers or attorneys must have accounts established in order to log on. If an employer has not received any further communication within 90 days of filing or within 120 days of an audit, the processing center for the region should be notified. The processing centers are in Atlanta and Chicago. If the job location is in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington D.C., or West Virginia, the labor certification is processed in Atlanta. If the job location is in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, or Wyoming, the application will be processed in Chicago. The email addressed for these centers are: plc.Atlanta@dol.gov and plc.Chicago@dol.gov.

 


The author is a 26+ year practitioner of immigration law based in New York City. He was awarded the Sidney A. Levine prize for best legal writing at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1977 and has written extensively on immigration over the past years for the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Pakistan Calling, Muhasha and OCS. He has testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings and was recognized by the Taiwan government in 1985 for his work protecting human rights. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.

This article © 2007 Alan Lee, Esq.

 

Copyright © 2003-2012 Alan Lee, Esq.
The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.