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Immigration -- News
| DOL Agrees to Reopen Certain Labor Certification Cases Closed by the BECs |
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U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for
Employment and Training
Washington, D.C. 20210
JUN - 1 2006
Ms. Mary A. Kenney
Senior Attorney
American Immigration Law Foundation
918 F Street, N.W., 6th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20004
Dear Ms. Kenney:
We have received and carefully considered your letter, co-signed by Nadine K. Wettstein,
concerning the Employment and Training Administration's (ETA) pre-PERM case closing
practice as these actions relate to our efforts to eliminate the backlog of permanent labor
certification applications filed prior to March 28,2005. We believe the issuance of "45 day"
letters to employers to determine their continued desire to pursue long pending
applications has proven extremely successful in ascertaining current employer
commitment and is an effective and efficient utilization of public resources. This practice
has eliminated thousands of cases where either the employer no longer exists or no longer
has the need to utilize foreign labor to meet their workforce needs.
Accordingly, it is our continued intent to enter all backlogged cases into our database
which triggers the issuance of the "45 day" letter. This practice has proven too
successful to abandon and serves as a necessary tool for reducing the large backlog of
cases.
However, in the course of establishing large mailing systems where literally tens of
thousands of letters have been mailed, we recognize there may have been occasions in
which the letters were not received by the employer and/or its attorney through no
fault of their own. In those cases, our subsequent action in closing the application may
not have been warranted.
The Employment and Training Administration has always strived to serve our
workforce and employers in the most equitable manner. Therefore we will re-open
those cases where the employer, or its attorney, within 30 days of receipt of the case
closure letter, notified the issuing Certifying Officer that the "45 day" letter had not
been received and that the employer wished to continue processing.
Requests for reopening outside of this parameter will be addressed on a case-by-case
basis by the appropriate BEC. The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will be
in touch to discuss your suggestions as to what other situations might warrant
reopening. Further guidance may be issued in the future.
I trust this action will satisfy the concerns raised in your correspondence and that we
can continue to work together. Thank you.
Sincerely, /
cc: Douglas F. Small
Bill Carlson
Harry Sheinfeld
U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for
Employment and Training
Washington, D.C. 20210
JUN - 1 2006
Ms. Nadine K. Wettstein
Director Legal Action Center
American Immigration Law Foundation
918 F Street N.W., 6th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20004
Dear Ms. Wettstein:
We have received and carefully considered your letter, co-signed by Mary A. Kenney,
concerning the Employment and Training Administration's (ETA) pre-PERM case closing
practice as these actions relate to our efforts to eliminate the backlog of permanent labor
certification applications filed prior to March 28,2005. We believe the issuance of "45 day"
letters to employeri to determine their continued desire to pursue long pending
applications has proven extremely successful in ascertaining current employer
commitment and is an effective and efficient utilization of public resources. This practice
has eliminated thousands of cases where either the employer no longer exists or no longer
has the need to utilize foreign labor to meet their workforce needs.
Accordingly, it is our continued intent to enter all backlogged cases into our database
which triggers the issuance of the "45 day" letter. This practice has proven too
successful to abandon and serves as a necessary tool for reducing the large backlog of
cases.
However, in the course of establishing large mailing systems where literally tens of
thousands of letters have been mailed, we recognize there may have been occasions in
which the letters were not received by the employer and/or its attorney through no
fault of their own. In those cases, our subsequent action in closing the application may
not have been warranted.
The Employment and Training Administration has always strived to serve our
workforce and employers in the most equitable manner. Therefore we will re-open
those cases where the employer, or its attorney, within 30 days of receipt of the case
closure letter, notified the issuing Certifying Officer that the "45 day" letter had not
been received and that the employer wished to continue processing.
Requests for reopening outside of this parameter will be addressed on a case-by-case
basis by the appropriate BEC. The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will be
in touch to discuss your suggestions as to what other situations might warrant
reopening. Further guidance may be issued in the future.
I trust this action will satisfy the concerns raised in your correspondence and that we
can continue to work together, Thank you.
Sincerely, /
y Stover De occo
cc: Douglas F. Small
Bill Carlson
Harry Sheinfeld |
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