AJB to AJE

1. General BEC Information E-Mail Box:

In order to facilitate improved responsiveness by OFLC to employers' questions concerning Permanent Labor Certification applications pending at the Backlog Elimination Centers (BECs), OFLC announces the enhanced implementation of general information e-mail boxes at the BECs. Employers or their representatives should direct their e-mails to the general information box at info@dal.dflc.us for the Dallas BEC or at info@phi.dflc.us for the Philadelphia BEC. In order to facilitate responses, the subject line of the email should be specific regarding the question.

Please remember that these e-mail boxes are for employers/representatives who have specific issues regarding their application. The BECs do not respond to general "status" inquiries. Current case status may be obtained with the case number using the Public Disclosure System (http://pds.pbls.doleta.gov/).

2. OFLC Encourages Rapid Applicant Response:

To enable the BECs to complete the processing of applications as soon as possible, OFLC strongly encourages employers/representatives to send in their responses to Notice of Findings (NOF) letters and Recruitment Report Instructions letters as soon as a response is prepared. Although regulations set forth specific timelines for the maximum time allowed for a response, employers/representatives need not use the full allotted time to respond. The sooner responses are received by the BEC, the sooner they can be processed and the application can reach resolution. Therefore, OFLC encourages employers/representatives to send in their responses as soon as possible.

Consistent with item two above, in order to provide the best service possible and eliminate the backlog of applications efficiently, OFLC announces that the BECs will no longer routinely grant extensions to the time allotted by regulation for employers/representatives to rebut a Notice of Findings (NOF). OFLC will only grant such extensions for the most extreme extenuating circumstances. In the absence of a granted extension, applications for which a timely rebuttal is not posted by the deadline stated in the NOF are denied.

Backlog Cases Inadvertently

It came to the attention of the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) that due to a technical issue, a number of cases were inadvertently identified as pending PERM re-file applications and were withdrawn from the backlog. OFLC immediately rectified this situation immediately by identifying the affected cases, and reinstating them back to the appropriate processing status in proper order. This effort was completed by November 30, 2006.

Although affected employers and their attorneys will NOT be receiving an additional notice of reinstatement, they may verify their case has been reinstated using the Public Disclosure System (PDS) starting December 1^st. Since verification will be available online, employers and attorneys are requested not to contact the Backlog Elimination Centers regarding status.

Public Disclosure System

In order to provide basic case status information on specific cases, OFLC introduces the Backlog Public Disclosure System (PDS). The purpose of the PDS is to provide a vehicle for employers, attorneys, agents, and aliens to determine the status of an application filed at a Backlog Elimination Center (BEC). Users can access PDS by clicking on the "Check Backlog Case Status" under "Quick Links", or by clicking here.

No Contact from BEC

OFLC has developed a process for an employer or attorney who believes an application should be pending at the Backlog Elimination Centers (BECs) but for which no contact (e.g., no 45-Day Center Receipt Notification Letters (CRNL), case closed letter, or other correspondence about the case) from the BECs has been received.

In order to provide these employers with the opportunity to have their applications processed while also guarding against potential fraud, OFLC has established specific steps for employers or their attorneys to follow. These steps are outlined in the FAQ located here. Non-Receipt of 45-day Letters Process for Addressing Related Requests to Reopen

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is aware that some employers or their legal representatives who have received "case closed" letters may not have previously received a "45-day" Center Receipt Notification Letter ("45-day letter") from the Backlog Elimination Center (BEC) processing their respective cases. In addition, cases may have been closed after employers or their representatives responded timely to a 45-day letter. OFLC has developed a process and remedy available to employers who believe a case has been closed due to issues surrounding the receipt of or response to 45-day letters. To be considered for case reopening, all requests must be received by the appropriate BEC within 30 days of the publication of this policy announcement or within 30-days of the receipt of a case closed letter, whichever is later.

To learn more, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section here.

 What's happening with my application  for Alien Employment Certification or  Permanent Employment in the United States?

As part of our effort to improve the processing of permanent labor certification applications, Permanent cases from the Regional Offices and the State Workforce Agencies are being transferred to the ETA Backlog Processing Centers. The centers will issue a "45-day letter" to the employer. The letter will ask the employer if it wishes to continue with the processing of the application. Additionally, the letter will inform the employer if any information from the application is missing. The employer will be given 45 days from the date of the letter to respond. If the employer fails to respond, the application will be closed.

Why is my application being processed by a Backlog Processing Center?

ETA has established two (2) Backlog Processing Centers in accordance with an interim final rule we published in the Federal Register on July 21, 2004. The rule allowed us to consolidate state and Federal functions of the application review process into centralized locations. We estimated with adequate resources, it will take approximately 24-30 months to eliminate the permanent program's backlog of cases.

Which Backlog Processing Center has my application?

Which Backlog Processing Center has your application depends upon the area of intended employment for the job opportunity identified in the Permanent application.

• Philadelphia Backlog Processing Center
  If the area of intended employment is in the following states or territories, questions should be directed to the Philadelphia Processing Center at the address listed below:
  
  

U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
1 Belmont Avenue, Suite 200
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Phone: (484) 270-1500
Fax: (484) 270-1600

• Dallas Backlog Processing Center
  If the area of intended employment is in the following states or territories, questions should be directed to the Dallas Processing Center at the address listed below:
  
  

U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
700 North Pearl St., Suite 400N
Dallas, Texas 75201
Phone: (214) 237-9111
Fax: (214) 237-9135

H-1B Visa Extensions

DOL has worked with CIS to set up a new system in the Backlog Elimination Centers to assist individuals who have submitted an application for permanent labor certification prior to March 28, 2005 and need proof of the submission to apply for an extension of an H-1B visa.

Individuals should send an e-mail to the appropriate Backlog Center explaining the need for the H-1B extension and requesting verification that their application is pending at the Center. The email addresses are h1b7yr@dal.dflc.us for the Dallas Center and h1b7yr@phi.dflc.us for the Philadelphia Center. Include in this request all pertinent information (employer name and address, alien name and address, date of filing, state where filed, case number, if known).

The Backlog Center will respond to the individual with verification that the application has been pending for 365 days.

Backlogged Application Receipt Dates

The document found at the link below was created to help employers who have applied for Permanent Foreign Labor Certification prior to March 28, 2005 find out when their applications arrived at a backlog processing center. In order to learn when a specific case was received by a backlog center, first locate the state where the Permanent Foreign Labor Certification application was submitted. Then, in the next column, marked Filing Date Range, find the dates between which the application's filing (or priority) date falls. To the right of this column is the Date Received column, which shows the exact date that applications within a specific priority date range arrived at the backlog center. The last column, entitled Backlog Center, shows what center received that particular shipment.

Backlogged Application Receipt Dates

Shipping Schedule:

Permanent case applications currently located at the SWAs and Regional Offices are being shipped to the Backlog Processing Centers in three phases based on local office receipt date.