Philadelphia Regional DOL Tracker
- Thread starter usnycus
- Start date
LongWaitingGC
New Member
Thanks for the information gp111.gp111 said:
PainfulGC123
Registered Users (C)
ceeku said:
INS's Broad Interpretation on H1B 7th-Year Extension Eligibility
Posted May 10, 2002
We reported in the May 03, 2002 issue of the MurthyBulletin on an opinion letter that our Office received from Efren Hernandez, III, INS Director, Business and Trade Services, regarding an important issue of interest to persons in H1B status. Our article, entitled 'Dormant' H-1 Petitions Remain Valid is available on MurthyDotCom. Some of our colleagues have also been busy requesting similar INS advisements and have been kind enough to share information. An important issue in one such recent advisement concerns the ability of persons to obtain H1B status extensions beyond the six-year period.
As regular MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom readers are aware, the American Competitiveness in the Twenty First Century Act (AC21), in certain circumstances, allows persons in H1B status to obtain extensions of that status beyond the six-year period (usually referred to as "seventh-year extensions"). Sections 106(a) and (b) of AC21 set forth the following two requirements for such extensions: first, a labor certification application must have been filed for the person at least one year prior; and, second, either the I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) must also have been filed and be pending or approved, or else the I-485 must be pending. In those cases that do not require the filing of a labor certification, like the national interest waiver cases, the I-140 must have been filed a year prior and the I-140 or the I-485 must be pending.
The question an attorney posed to Mr. Hernandez was whether the INS would approve the seventh-year extension of the H-1 for an employer other than the one that filed the labor certification and I-140. Mr. Hernandez advised that the seventh-year H1B extension is not employer specific. A person can obtain an extension of H1B status with Company B based upon a labor certification and I-140 filed by Company A.
Mr. Hernandez also stated that this interpretation would be "explored" during the process of rulemaking for AC21. That is, the regulations that will eventually interpret AC21 in more detail may change or modify the interpretation now being given by the INS.
This is indeed good news since The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. has been advocating this approach with the INS since AC21 was passed in October 2000. This interpretation appears to be appropriate and justified under the wording of the AC21 law and may benefit many who have had to change employers due to the current soft economy. We trust that the INS will be consistent in issuing its regulations with the plain meaning of the law that was intended to have a broad and generous interpretation of such gray areas. As always, we thank the INS for their continual efforts to provide clear-cut guidance on matters of policy and interpretation of the law.
SOURCE:
http://www.murthy.com/news/UDbrin7y.html
PainfulGC123
Registered Users (C)
ceeku said:
After you get LC approved, immediately apply for I-140 and use the I-140 receipt notice to get a 7th year H-1B extension. So don't worry unnecessarily. Hope this helps!
rest_2004_free
Registered Users (C)
Also
You can do one more thing...apply for labor from another category or something now that will make labor pending scenario and then get H1 extended...I think the law says that 140 should be pending for 1 yr....ofcourse check with the lawyer..
You can do one more thing...apply for labor from another category or something now that will make labor pending scenario and then get H1 extended...I think the law says that 140 should be pending for 1 yr....ofcourse check with the lawyer..
mvinays said:
sick_of_waiting
Registered Users (C)
I don't get it...why do you guys need a 7th year extension after LC is approved. Isn't EAD enough to stay in status and work and you can get an EAD in a few weeks after LC is approved.
higcoptimist
Registered Users (C)
ceeku said:
Hi,
I dont' get it. Your labor petition is pending well over one year and you are automatically eligible for continued 1year extentions, till the final adjugation of I140 and I 485, no matter how many more years it takes.
higcoptimist
DOL Website updated.
LC Applicants,
FYI, DOL has updated there website and there is no change in Philly processing dates, why am I not astounded?
http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/foreign/times.asp
AwardMyGC
LC Applicants,
FYI, DOL has updated there website and there is no change in Philly processing dates, why am I not astounded?
http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/foreign/times.asp
AwardMyGC
AwardMyGC said:
I dont mean this sarcastically - Does anyone remember when the Philly dates last moved (in any direction) ? Was it anytime in this year ? I mean I seem to remember no movement this year, am I right ?
Addendum:-
After posting the above, I decided to look up some history on the Immigration.com archives.
Today Philly DOL reports processing 7/2003 cases.
Turns out, in November 2003 - Philly DOL was processing 6/2003 cases
In August 2003 - Philly DOL was processing 5/2003 cases
In May 2003 - Philly DOL was processing 3/2003 cases.
So In a year (since 11/03) Philly DOL has moved up 1 month.
In 1.5 yrs (since 3/03) Philly DOL has moved up 3 months.
Terrible show -
I wonder what my employer would do if I was as productive !
Last edited by a moderator:
GC_Lover said:
Actually worse than that. See this table I posted earlier in the year for RIR date progress since Feb 2002...nothing has changed since I last posted except the number of months of backlog which now stands at 14 months!!
PHILLY DOL
RIR
Report Month DOLETA Website Backlog Months
Feb-02 30 Days 1
Mar-02 30 Days 1
Apr-02 30 Days 1
May-02 30 Days 1
Jun-02 30 Days 1
Jul-02 30 Days 1
Aug-02 Jun-02 2
Sep-02 Jun-02 3
Oct-02 Jul-02 3
Nov-02 Aug-02 3
Dec-02 Aug-02 4
Jan-03 Aug-02 5
Feb-03 Sep-02 5
Mar-03 Sep-02 6
Apr-03 Sep-02 7
May-03 Mar-03 2
Jun-03 Mar-03 3
Jul-03 Mar-03 4
Aug-03 May-03 3
Sep-03 Jul-03 2
Oct-03 Jul-03 3
Nov-03 Jun-03 5
Dec-03 Jun-03 6
Jan-04 Jun-03 7
Feb-04 Jun-03 8
Mar-04 Jun-03 9
Apr-04 Jun-03 10
May-04 Jul-03 10
Jun-04 Jul-03 11
Jul-04 Jul-03 12
GC_Lover said:He would have asked you to re-design your whole project and re-do all your work just like BEC and he would have asked your customers to wait patiently for few years while you finish redesigning.
It's a freaking monopoly.
I dream of a day when even Govt has to compete.
Think how efficient these services would be if we had a choice. If we could essentially say something like -
"Hmm... the performance of the branch of government run by XYZ is doing better than the government run by Mr Bush (not a dig at him. just the administration) today.
So I will take my taxes to the government run by XYZ and they can provide me with the services I need (in this case immigration services)."
That would show them.
spidey said:
Actually, Spidey, thats Exactly what is happening.
Everyone here at some point decided 'hmm, our govt is no good. Let me take my talent and money to USA!'... In case of employment base immigration, the unstated subtext is always about competing governments and societies. People choose the best and take their talents, job and money there. The problem here is not about lack of competitition, but that the best is still not good enough. Pineapple said:Actually, Spidey, thats Exactly what is happening.
Not quite what I meant and I did consider your perspective before writing what I did but we'll let it go at that.
Not the most appropriate venue for this discussion.
Actually, there are many worst performing departments than DOL. Ex: DMV of New Jersy. Once I went for my DL and they rejected because my I-797 was addressed to Attorney (!$@@$^!). Gwad! Can he be more dumber????
That not all, they invalidated my SSN because it had "work authorization" stamp on it.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DMV of NJ is the only place in USA where my SSN is invalid.!!
That not all, they invalidated my SSN because it had "work authorization" stamp on it.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DMV of NJ is the only place in USA where my SSN is invalid.!!
Department of Labor’s FY 2005 Transition Guidance
Labor Certification Update: Department of Labor’s FY 2005 Transition Guidance
Immigration Attorney
Services & Fees
Immigration News
November 10, 2004
The Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training Administration (“ETA”) of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued a Fiscal Year 2005 Transition Guidance memorandum (“TG memo”) to all state workforce agencies (“SWAs”).
The TG memo states that the role of SWAs will be diminished, and labor certification adjudication will be centralized at two national processing centers whether or not the PERM program is implemented.
According to the TG memo, the DOL is proceeding on the assumption that the final PERM regulation will be published before the end of 2004, but outlines a contingency plan in the event the long-awaited PERM regulation is not published.
The TG memo outlines its current 2005 plan, its 2005 contingency plan, the role of the SWAs, and backlog reduction shipment schedules. A summary of these points is as follows:
DOL’s Current Plan:
The final PERM regulation is still pending clearance at the Office of Management and Budget.
If the PERM regulation is published, the SWAs will no longer accept labor certification applications.
After the PERM effective date, the role of the SWA with respect to labor certification review will be limited to prevailing wage determinations.
The TG memo confirms that the DOL is proceeding on the assumption that the final PERM regulation will be published before the end of the 2004 calendar year, and that the new program will be operational within sixty (60) days of the publication date, not 120 days as previously reported by the DOL.
DOL’s Contingency Plan:
The TG memo provides for a contingency plan in the event that the PERM regulation is not published. Regardless of whether PERM is published, the SWA role will change in 2005. Processing will shift from a state-federal system to a primarily federally-administered program.
In July 2004, the DOL published a backlog reduction interim final rule to allow the transfer of labor certification cases pending at either a DOL regional office or a SWA to one or more centralized processing locations. This rule also allows the DOL to consolidate state and federal processing functions in a central location. This permits SWAs to accept cases from employers, but no longer allows them to review applications.
To implement this backlog reduction regulation, the DOL has established two backlog elimination centers, one in Dallas and one in Philadelphia.
The DOL has moved federal staff from DOL regional offices to these two backlog centers.
Both contractor and federal staff training has started, and the TG memo reports that labor certification applications will soon be adjudicated by the backlog reduction centers.
Dallas and Philadelphia will initially process the DOL regional office backlogs and then begin to handle cases currently backlogged at the SWAs.
Work at the backlog reduction centers will be augmented by case processing occurring at the DOL regional offices and the SWAs. The DOL expects the Dallas and Philadelphia backlog centers to complete their work within two years, at which point they will be closed. In addition, the DOL is in the process of establishing national processing centers in Atlanta and Chicago, where all labor certification applications (except for those backlogged cases being processed in Dallas and Philadelphia) will be adjudicated. These national centers are expected to be operational by January 1, 2005. If PERM is not implemented, Atlanta and Chicago will serve as two additional backlog reduction locations.
State Workforce Agency Role:
If the PERM regulation is published, SWAs are instructed to stop accepting labor certification applications sixty-one (61) days after the publication of the regulation.
The DOL will issue specific guidance as to where SWAs will forward remaining applications.
SWAs will continue to accept and review cases until January 1, 2005, at which point, SWAs will not start review of any applications, but simply date stamp and log applications in order to establish a filing date (priority date). After January 1, 2005, cases at SWAs that are in the process of SWA review should be completed and then forwarded to Atlanta or Chicago.
SWAs will continue to accept but not open and review cases filed by employers after January 1, 2005. These applications will be forwarded to either Atlanta or Chicago based upon a schedule to be provided to the SWAs.
SWA cases that are under review up until January 1, 2005, will be sent to the currently assigned DOL regional office.
Backlog Reduction Center Shipment Schedules:
The ETA estimates that by March 31, 2005, all SWA backlog cases will be transferred to one of the backlog reduction centers in Dallas or Philadelphia, or assigned to a DOL regional office for completion of processing.
All cases received at backlog centers will be processed in order of priority date to ensure the oldest cases are worked on first.
Traditional and Reduction in Recruitment (“RIR”) cases will continue to be reviewed in two different tracks at the backlog reduction centers.
The DOL regional office in San Francisco has already transferred 20,000 pending labor certification applications to the backlog centers.
This transfer will assist in reducing the oldest federal backlog of cases. Applications that a regional office has already started to review will not be transferred in order to avoid case disruption.
The first shipment of cases from the SWAs was scheduled in October 2004. This consists of those cases at the state level with the oldest priority dates, regardless of geographic location. Therefore, not all SWAs have been involved in this first round because the DOL’s concentration is focused on the oldest case backlogs.
The final round of case shipments will begin in January 2005, and should be received by the backlog centers no later than the end of March 2005. This will include all cases received by all SWAs prior to December 31, 2004, for which case review has not started.
What this means:
The following points summarize the most significant changes to labor certification processing that will begin on January 1, 2005:
The national processing of labor certification applications will use a first-in, first-out policy, regardless of the location where the case was originally filed in order to apply an equitable and fair approach.
Because of the national processing approach to labor certification review, there will be no processing advantage to filing in one geographical location versus another.
The backlog reduction centers will review cases in order of priority date, and that will benefit the most severely backlogged states: California, New York, and New Jersey.
The 20,000 cases that have been shipped from the San Francisco DOL regional office have not yet been identified, and it is unknown to which backlog reduction center they have been shipped.
As the backlog reduction plan is rolled out, the DOL will send to attorneys of record notification of where cases are being sent, as well as a request for confirmation that the employer intends to continue the application.
If PERM is not implemented, the Atlanta and Chicago national processing centers will serve as two additional backlog reduction sites.
If PERM is not implemented, labor certification applications submitted after January 1, 2005, will continue to be filed with SWAs, and then transferred, in order of priority date, to either a backlog reduction center, or to one of the national processing centers in Atlanta or Chicago.
Cases will be forwarded from SWAs based upon a schedule from the ETA division of DOL.Therefore, cases filed with a SWA after January 1, 2005 will not receive any sort of priority in adjudication.
Substantial and significant reduction in both the traditional and RIR backlogs is expected in 2005, particularly for cases filed in California.
We will provide more information as soon as it becomes available.
Labor Certification Update: Department of Labor’s FY 2005 Transition Guidance
Immigration Attorney
Services & Fees
Immigration News
November 10, 2004
The Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training Administration (“ETA”) of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued a Fiscal Year 2005 Transition Guidance memorandum (“TG memo”) to all state workforce agencies (“SWAs”).
The TG memo states that the role of SWAs will be diminished, and labor certification adjudication will be centralized at two national processing centers whether or not the PERM program is implemented.
According to the TG memo, the DOL is proceeding on the assumption that the final PERM regulation will be published before the end of 2004, but outlines a contingency plan in the event the long-awaited PERM regulation is not published.
The TG memo outlines its current 2005 plan, its 2005 contingency plan, the role of the SWAs, and backlog reduction shipment schedules. A summary of these points is as follows:
DOL’s Current Plan:
The final PERM regulation is still pending clearance at the Office of Management and Budget.
If the PERM regulation is published, the SWAs will no longer accept labor certification applications.
After the PERM effective date, the role of the SWA with respect to labor certification review will be limited to prevailing wage determinations.
The TG memo confirms that the DOL is proceeding on the assumption that the final PERM regulation will be published before the end of the 2004 calendar year, and that the new program will be operational within sixty (60) days of the publication date, not 120 days as previously reported by the DOL.
DOL’s Contingency Plan:
The TG memo provides for a contingency plan in the event that the PERM regulation is not published. Regardless of whether PERM is published, the SWA role will change in 2005. Processing will shift from a state-federal system to a primarily federally-administered program.
In July 2004, the DOL published a backlog reduction interim final rule to allow the transfer of labor certification cases pending at either a DOL regional office or a SWA to one or more centralized processing locations. This rule also allows the DOL to consolidate state and federal processing functions in a central location. This permits SWAs to accept cases from employers, but no longer allows them to review applications.
To implement this backlog reduction regulation, the DOL has established two backlog elimination centers, one in Dallas and one in Philadelphia.
The DOL has moved federal staff from DOL regional offices to these two backlog centers.
Both contractor and federal staff training has started, and the TG memo reports that labor certification applications will soon be adjudicated by the backlog reduction centers.
Dallas and Philadelphia will initially process the DOL regional office backlogs and then begin to handle cases currently backlogged at the SWAs.
Work at the backlog reduction centers will be augmented by case processing occurring at the DOL regional offices and the SWAs. The DOL expects the Dallas and Philadelphia backlog centers to complete their work within two years, at which point they will be closed. In addition, the DOL is in the process of establishing national processing centers in Atlanta and Chicago, where all labor certification applications (except for those backlogged cases being processed in Dallas and Philadelphia) will be adjudicated. These national centers are expected to be operational by January 1, 2005. If PERM is not implemented, Atlanta and Chicago will serve as two additional backlog reduction locations.
State Workforce Agency Role:
If the PERM regulation is published, SWAs are instructed to stop accepting labor certification applications sixty-one (61) days after the publication of the regulation.
The DOL will issue specific guidance as to where SWAs will forward remaining applications.
SWAs will continue to accept and review cases until January 1, 2005, at which point, SWAs will not start review of any applications, but simply date stamp and log applications in order to establish a filing date (priority date). After January 1, 2005, cases at SWAs that are in the process of SWA review should be completed and then forwarded to Atlanta or Chicago.
SWAs will continue to accept but not open and review cases filed by employers after January 1, 2005. These applications will be forwarded to either Atlanta or Chicago based upon a schedule to be provided to the SWAs.
SWA cases that are under review up until January 1, 2005, will be sent to the currently assigned DOL regional office.
Backlog Reduction Center Shipment Schedules:
The ETA estimates that by March 31, 2005, all SWA backlog cases will be transferred to one of the backlog reduction centers in Dallas or Philadelphia, or assigned to a DOL regional office for completion of processing.
All cases received at backlog centers will be processed in order of priority date to ensure the oldest cases are worked on first.
Traditional and Reduction in Recruitment (“RIR”) cases will continue to be reviewed in two different tracks at the backlog reduction centers.
The DOL regional office in San Francisco has already transferred 20,000 pending labor certification applications to the backlog centers.
This transfer will assist in reducing the oldest federal backlog of cases. Applications that a regional office has already started to review will not be transferred in order to avoid case disruption.
The first shipment of cases from the SWAs was scheduled in October 2004. This consists of those cases at the state level with the oldest priority dates, regardless of geographic location. Therefore, not all SWAs have been involved in this first round because the DOL’s concentration is focused on the oldest case backlogs.
The final round of case shipments will begin in January 2005, and should be received by the backlog centers no later than the end of March 2005. This will include all cases received by all SWAs prior to December 31, 2004, for which case review has not started.
What this means:
The following points summarize the most significant changes to labor certification processing that will begin on January 1, 2005:
The national processing of labor certification applications will use a first-in, first-out policy, regardless of the location where the case was originally filed in order to apply an equitable and fair approach.
Because of the national processing approach to labor certification review, there will be no processing advantage to filing in one geographical location versus another.
The backlog reduction centers will review cases in order of priority date, and that will benefit the most severely backlogged states: California, New York, and New Jersey.
The 20,000 cases that have been shipped from the San Francisco DOL regional office have not yet been identified, and it is unknown to which backlog reduction center they have been shipped.
As the backlog reduction plan is rolled out, the DOL will send to attorneys of record notification of where cases are being sent, as well as a request for confirmation that the employer intends to continue the application.
If PERM is not implemented, the Atlanta and Chicago national processing centers will serve as two additional backlog reduction sites.
If PERM is not implemented, labor certification applications submitted after January 1, 2005, will continue to be filed with SWAs, and then transferred, in order of priority date, to either a backlog reduction center, or to one of the national processing centers in Atlanta or Chicago.
Cases will be forwarded from SWAs based upon a schedule from the ETA division of DOL.Therefore, cases filed with a SWA after January 1, 2005 will not receive any sort of priority in adjudication.
Substantial and significant reduction in both the traditional and RIR backlogs is expected in 2005, particularly for cases filed in California.
We will provide more information as soon as it becomes available.