They say labor certs will have major developments in 2004. I expect first positive news on Summer 2004.
http://www.ilw.com/immigrants/weekly/digest/2003,1222.shtm
Labor Certification Overhaul
The Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA) recently solicited proposals to select a contractor to provide operations support to ETA's Division of Foreign Labor Certification in order to eliminate the current backlog. The Request for Proposal sheds insight into the changes that lay ahead in the Division of Foreign Labor Certification, including:
The type of support anticipated are two fully staffed facilities or application processing centers on a national scale. The ultimate size of the centers will be contingent upon the amount of resources included in the Department’s FY ’04 budget approved by Congress.
The current size of the national backlog approximates 300,000 applications. Because of this large backlog, the Permanent Labor Certification program has been identified in the President's "Blueprint for a New Beginning” as a program seriously in need of improvement. To address this concern, a major restructuring of the certification process will be implemented with the introduction of the Program Electronic Review Management System (PERM) during the first part of calendar year 2004. However, the backlog of applications filed under current regulations must still be processed under the old rules and within the existing system.
The pork-laden appropriations bills which Congress failed to pass this year include even more funding for the labor certification backlog reduction than the President's original request. Thus, it is very likely that very early next year, DOL will finally get a sufficient sum of money ($100 million plus) to eliminate the massive backlog. However, there are many points here that attorneys may want to note. The new process contemplated by DOL envisages what amounts to a "service center" concept, the first time that such a concept will be applied to a labor cert program. In states like California and New York, attorneys will have to re-evaluate their labor cert strategies since "regular labor certification" may no longer have a horrendous backlog in 2005. There may be another lesson to be drawn here - it pays to seek a benefit. Faced with unprecedented filings as result of 245(i), Congress ultimately, if belatedly, is about to appropriate the money necessary to process the deluge of applications.
We are sure to see major developments in labor certs in 2004.
