On July 21, 2004, the
Department of Labor (DOL) published an interim rule in the Federal
Register in order to address the backlog of pending applications for
permanent labor certification of foreign workers.
The rule proposes allowing the National Certifying Officer to
transfer to a centralized ETA processing center(s) applications now
awaiting processing by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) or ETA Regional
Offices.
The DOL is proposing
this rule in conjunction with its plans to roll out the new PERM
efiling labor certification system this fall. PERM promises to
dramatically reduce processing times for the vast majority of labor
certification cases.
The current process
for obtaining a labor certification requires employers to actively
recruit U.S. workers in good faith for a period of at least 30 days
for the job openings for which aliens are sought. The employer's job
requirements must conform to the DOL’s regulatory standards.
The DOL’s
Employment and Training Administration's Permanent Labor Certification
Program is currently experiencing a large backlog in pending
applications for permanent employment of immigrants.
To address the backlog, the Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) funded a study to identify strategic options for
reducing the backlog. The study recommended establishing centralized
processing centers, which could process large numbers of applications
in one location and consolidate the functions currently performed
separately by the SWAs and the ETA Regional Offices. Building upon
this recommendation, ETA initiated a pilot program testing the
feasibility of centralized processing, which indicated that the
backlog of applications could be substantially reduced.
The interim rule
proposes amending 20 CFR part 656 by adding a new section 656.24a to
provide that the National Certifying Officer (Chief, Division of
Foreign Labor Certification) has the discretion to direct SWAs and ETA
Regional Offices to transfer pending labor certification applications
to centralized processing centers for completion of processing. The
centralized processing centers will perform the required functions of
the SWAs and ETA Regional Certifying Officers, consolidating the steps
now performed separately by the SWAs and the ETA Regional Offices.
The Chief will issue a directive to SWAs and the ETA Regional
Offices stating how pending applications are to be identified for
centralized processing, and where they are to be sent.
