Global Immigration Counsel : Immigration Lawyer & Attorney : Littler Mendelson Law Firm : Permanent Residence, Labor Certification : Global Immigration Counsel

The U.S. Department of Labor has provided notice that beginning January 1, 2010, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification National Prevailing Wage and Helpdesk Center in Washington, D.C. will receive and process prevailing wage determination requests for use in H-1B, H-1B1, H-1C, H-2B, E-3 and permanent labor certification programs. In the same notice, the DOL provides guidance about prevailing wage determinations for applications in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which have been accepted at the center since November 28, 2009.

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The Department of Labor is suspending the H-2A Final Rule (published on December 18, 2008 and in effect as of January 17, 2009). That Final Rule amended the regulations governing the certification for temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers in agricultural occupations on a temporary or seasonal basis, and the enforcement of contractual obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers. To ensure continued functioning of the H-2A program, the DOL is republishing and reinstating the regulations in place on January 16, 2009 for a period of nine months, after which the Department will either have engaged in further rulemaking or lifted the suspension.

The notice of suspension (PDF) was published in the Federal Register on May 29, 2009, and the suspension is effective June 29, 2009. In order to answer employers’ questions about the suspension, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification has issued the document “H-2A Notice of Final Suspension: Frequently Asked Questions”(PDF).

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The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has announced (PDF) a new iCERT Visa Portal System, starting April 15, 2009. The iCERT System will allow employers to:

• Prepare and submit applications at any time;
• Save time preparing applications by pre-populating visa forms with business/contact information;
• Create and manage sub-account users (e.g., HR staff or in-house legal counsel) to prepare and submit applications on the employer’s behalf;
• Track the status of applications across visa programs through a single account;
• Submit requests to withdraw applications; and
• Notify the Department of Labor, at any time, in the event that unauthorized applications for labor certification have been submitted.

The OFLC’s announcement includes a implementation timeline for the iCERT system.

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