November 12, 2009 Extension of the H-2A Transition Period Procedures: The Department has sent to the Federal Register an Interim Final Rule (IFR) extending the transition period application filing procedures implemented under the December 2008 H-2A Final Rule. The application filing procedures under the extended transition period apply to all employers with dates of need before June 1, 2010. To read the IFR please click here. Persons interested in submitting comments may do so in the manner indicated in the IFR up to 30 days after publication.
October 19, 2009 LCA Help Desk: The Office of Foreign Labor Certification has created a Labor Condition Application (LCA) Help Desk based at the Chicago National Processing Center. The LCA Help Desk Specialists will provide customer service support by responding to form inquiries and requests for assistance with the H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 programs. The Help Desk may be reached via email at LCA.Chicago@dol.gov or via telephone at (312) 353-8100 from 8:30AM to 5:30PM Central Time. Send all technical or computer- related questions concerning the iCERT System via email to OFLC.Portal@dol.gov. For the LCA Help Desk Fact Sheet click here.
October 19, 2009 The Expiration of the H-1C Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Reauthorization Act of 2005: Effective December 21, 2009, the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Reauthorization Act will sunset. The Nursing Relief for Disadvantage Areas Act (NRDAA) established the H-1C Program in 1999 to reduce the shortage of qualified nurses in health professional shortage areas. The Program was reauthorized until December 20, 2009 under the Nursing Relief for Disadvantage Areas Reauthorization Act of 2005 which became effective in December 20, 2006.
Under the H-1C Program, eligible hospitals filed attestations with the Department of Labor’s, Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to support nonimmigrant worker petitions filed with the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Absent further legislative action, Congress has not elected to reinstate the H-1C Program and will no longer accept H-1C Attestations on Form ETA 9081 for foreign nurse positions effective December 21, 2009. The hospitals utilizing the H-1C Program may continue to file applications with the Department of Labor through its other programs including the H-1B Program and the PERM Program, as appropriate. Please address questions regarding the H-1C Program to TLC.Chicago@dol.gov.
October 2, 2009 DOL Extends Comment Period For H-2A Rulemaking: The Employment and Training Administration and the Employment Standards Administration recently issued a proposed rule regarding the application process for and enforcement of temporary alien agricultural (H-2A) labor certifications. 74 FR 45906 (Sept. 4, 2009). Today the agencies published a Notice to extend the comment period through October 20, 2009. To read this notice, click here.
September 9, 2009LCA FAQs: The Department has posted FAQs concerning the iCERT system and LCAs, including information regarding FEINs. To read the FAQs please click here.
September 4, 2009 H-2A NPRM: The Department has published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Aliens in the United States. The Department is accepting comments on the proposed rulemaking until October 5, 2009. To read the full text of the NPRM and to find out about the submission of comments, please click here.
September 3, 2009 DOL Publishes Technical Correction of H-1B Prevailing Wage Regulation: The Department has published a technical correction of 20 CFR 655.731, returning a provision that was inadvertently dropped as a result of editing the regulation to allow for federalizing of H-1B prevailing wage requests, which was done in the H-2B Final Rule in December 2008. This correction is applicable as of January 18, 2009, the effective date of that Final Rule. For a copy of the correction, click here.
August 28, 2009 The Department has published TEGL 11-07, Change 2 to rescind TEGL 11-07, Change 1 - Clarification of Certain Procedures for Processing H-2A Labor Certification Applications. The rescission of TEGL 11-07, Change 1 was needed to eliminate redundancy and prevent confusion on the part of the NPCs and the SWAs on the procedures related to the H-2A program. The rescission is effective immediately. To read the full text of TEGL 11-07, Change 2 please
click here.
"August 21, 2009 Notice Announcing H-2B Stakeholder Briefings in Boston and Chicago: The Department has published in the Federal Register a Notice announcing that it will hold public stakeholder briefing sessions in September in Boston and Chicago. The briefings will address changes to the H-2B temporary worker program and specifically focus on the full implementation stage of the new H-2B regulations that were published on December 19, 2008. To read the full text of the Notice, please click here."
June 29, 2009:Suspension Enjoined
On June 29, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina issued a preliminary injunction against the Department's Final Suspension of the December 2008 Final H-2A Rule. As a result of this court action, and unless and until additional court action takes place, the Suspension is no longer in effect; the December 2008 Final Rule remains in effect.
June 19, 2009:H-2B Entertainer FAQs: The Department has released FAQs for H-2Bs in the entertainment industry. To read them, click here.
May 29, 2009:Notice of Final Suspension: The Department is suspending the H-2A Final Rule published on December 18, 2008 and in effect as of January 17, 2009. The Suspension will be effective on June 29, 2009. As of that date, the regulations previously in effect as of January 2009, published in the May 29 Federal Register, will be in effect for a period of no more than 9 months.
May 13, 2009: LCA Legacy System to Remain Operational Through June 30, 2009
OFLC will keep the old LCA system operational through June 30, 2009 to give all users sufficient time to fully transition to the new iCERT system. Users are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the iCERT system as quickly as possible to allow adequate time to establish accounts and file LCAs using the new ETA-9035. Please note that all technical issues need to continue to be raised through the iCERT help desk at OFLC.Portal@dol.gov.
April 20, 2009: H-2B FAQs The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has posted the first round of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the H-2B program under the new regulations, which took effect January 18, 2009. To see the FAQs click here. The questions deal with the new forms ETA-9141 and ETA-9142, including where to find the NAICS and SOC codes, where and when to file, and other useful information. The FAQs for the old H-2B program are still available through the link located in the right margin on the OFLC home page.
April 16, 2009: Extension of H-2A Transition Procedures the Department published an Interim Final Rule extending the transition procedures in the H-2A Final Rule published in December 2008. This Interim Final Rule extends the transition period of the application filing procedures currently in effect for all H-2A employers with a date of need on or before July 1, 2009. The IFR extends the transition procedures to applications filed with a date of need before January 1, 2010. To see the IFR, click here. Persons interested in submitting comments may do so in the manner indicated in the IFR by May 18, 2009.
April 15, 2009: iCERT Portal – The new electronic portal was put in production on April 15, 2009. The legacy LCA tools will remain available for four weeks (until May 15, 2009) to allow time for a smooth transition. To access iCERT System, please click here.
April 1, 2009 Announcement of New iCERT System Rollout Schedule: The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is announcing the implementation of a new one-stop visa portal system, formally called the iCERT System, to improve employer access to employment-based visa application services and OFLC immigration news and information. Beginning April 15, 2009, employers or their authorized representatives will be able to register with the iCERT System and establish a single account to file the new ETA Form 9035E – Labor Condition Application (LCA) covering the H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 visa programs. In addition, OFLC has implemented a dedicated Help Desk Unit at the Chicago National Processing Center to serve as a resource to those employers and or their authorized representatives filing LCAs with the Department.
To obtain a copy of the User Manual for the iCERT Portal Account Registration process, click here
To obtain a copy of the User Manual for preparing and submitting the new ETA Form 9035E Labor Condition Application, click here
March 26, 2009Notice Withdrawing Arriaga Discussion: The Federal Register has published a Notice regarding language contained in both the preambles to the H-2A and H-2B Final Rules, published in December. The Notice withdraws an opinion expressed in both preambles that the Fair Labor Standards Act and its implementing regulations “do not require employers to reimburse workers under the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant visa programs, respectively, for relocation expenses even when such costs result in the workers being paid less than the minimum wage.” The Notice withdraws this interpretation from further consideration as a statement of Department policy. To read the full text of the Notice, click here.
H2A Regulation Mailbox Temporarily Suspended: The Office of Foreign Labor Certification has temporarily suspended its H.2ARegulation@dol.gov mailbox. The purpose of the temporary suspension is to avoid the inadvertent and incorrect submission of comments to the Notice of Proposed Suspension to that email box. The Notice directs all comments to the appropriate submission vehicles, both electronically and by mail or other methods. The box will be reactivated after the comment period on the Notice.
On March 17, 2009,The Department published a Notice of Proposed Suspension of the H-2A Final Rule, published December 18, 2008. The Department is accepting comments on the Notice of Proposed Suspension. To see the Notice, click here. To see FAQs regarding the Department's consideration of H-2A applications in light of the Notice, Click here.
New Prevailing Wage Form: In conjunction with the regulations going into effect on January 18, 2009 for the H-2B program, the Department has created and received approval from OMB for a new form to collect the necessary information from employers in order to provide a prevailing wage so that employers may begin the recruitment process. Employers must begin using the Form ETA-9141 for wage requests for H-2B work that is to commence on or after October 1, 2009. For instructions on how to complete the form and appendices see the instructions.
For LCA System: WARNING: Effective upon the enactment of HR 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, pursuant to section 1611(b), Div. A, it shall be unlawful for any recipient of funding under title I of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-343) or section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 342 et seq.) to hire any nonimmigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(h)(i)(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(h)(i)(b)) for new employment unless the recipient is in compliance with the requirements for an H-1B dependent employer (as defined in section 212(n)(3) (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(3))), except that the second sentence of section 212(n)(1)(E)(ii) of such Act shall not apply. Employers who are recipients of such funding may not file Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) for new employment unless they complete the actions and make the attestations required of dependent employers. *Until further notice, for those companies that are not dependent H-1B employers but are subject to this provision, please check Box “B” in Section F-1.1 of the ETA-9035 in order to demonstrate compliance as required. It is recommended that such employers retain documentation regarding their status.*
Information regarding the additional attestations required of H-1B-dependent employers—non-displacement and recruitment of U.S. workers-can be found at 20 CFR sections 655.738 and 655.739. For information regarding those employers who are recipients of such funding, go to http://www.treas.gov/initiatives/eesa/transactions.shtml
Briefings on using redesigned labor certification forms
On February 4 and 9, 2009, the Department of Labor held public briefings in San Diego and Baltimore, respectively, to educate stakeholders, program users, and other interested members of the public on using the reengineered application form 9089 used in the PERM program and form 9035 Labor Condition Application used in the H-1B/H-1B1/E-3 programs. The briefings also described the online portal system by which most users of these programs file applications. Click below to see handouts from the briefings:
