Please read this FAQ before asking questions.

More approvals from Dallas BEC

http://www.immigrationportal.com/showpost.php?p=1148180&postcount=69
shaaka said:
Guys,

My lawyer received lot of approvals for RIR cases from Dallas BEC. Some of them are 2001 and lot of 2002 approvals.

All approvals are from Dallas BEC

She said that latest approvals she got is for Mar 2002, End of Apr 2002 . She got this approvals in last week of Apr 2005.... :p :p :) :).

She said Dallas BEC queue is far beyond Aug 2002.

When i asked how do you know about the queue she said, she sent a email query to find the status about one Aug 2002 RIR case and she got reply back with "FINAL REVIEW". That's how she confirmed this.


ICARUS.......Looks like you will need to give a queue status update..Where is the queue exactly now......
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nuculer said:
Yes, according to this
http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/foreign/docs/online_manifest.xls

MA did send the following cases to Philly BEC:

case filing dates | received at Philly BEC
10/10/2003 - 2/15/2005 | 3/23/2005
3/3/2003 - 2/28/2005 | 3/28/2005
2/18/2005 - 3/25/2005 | 4/13/2005
2/18/2005 - 3/25/2005 | 4/19/2005

But I have not yet heard of anyone from MA posting in these forums that they received a 45-day letter. I have a friend who has a May 03 PD and she has not gotten anything. We need more input from MA people!
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The above information does not indicate that the any cases before 3/3/2003 have been sent to BEC.. If that is true then I guess my case has not been sent yet as my PD is 18 Dec 2002.. anyway, hope to hear more from people about MA updates..
 
Good News Coming.........

aprlc2002 said:
Hi All,

AS of this morning Phily has started processing Dec 01. Do not know concrete date of when they are gonna mail all the certified petitions. As of now they might be early next week or so again it is all internal Policy matter :(.

but one thing is for sure. They are going to mail all nov01 in a batch ASAP.
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source: http://www.immigration-law.com/Canada.html
06/02/2005: Clogged Foreign Labor Certification System Without Light at End of Tunnel
The reengineering of the nation's foreign labor certification system is facing a serious crisis as both the PERM program and the Backlog Reduction program reveal serious flaws. One doubts whether anyone within the DOL would have anticipated such serious problems when they had worked out this labor certification reengineering process. The nation's labor certification system is practically under seize at this time. Reportedly, the Backlog Processing Centers still have a huge number of boxes of files which have yet to be opened just for data-entry and until the data entry is completed, cases may not be adjudicated except a few oldest cases pending early 2001 or ealier than that. There is no end in sight. Since the Backlog Reduction program was first announced in the federal register, more than eight months have passed by now with no visible results and adjudication of applications. It appears that the serious flaws in planning and operation of the backlog reduction process are related to the concept of "national queue" and "FIFO." First problem existed in the management of this concept. The DOL should have known which states and which regions had the oldest backlog cases. Some small states did not even have any backlogs at all. We thought the leaders in the FLDC were aware of this issue and planned and scheduled shipment of cases from the states and regions in the order of assumedly heaviest backlog locations. As we all know it, San Francisco was picked first for this reason. If this plan worked perfectly, the oldest San Francisco cases should have been gone out of the labor certification processing pipelines while back. The same should be true with other earlier shipment state cases. The current backlog in opening boxes and completing data entries for later shipped cases from the least backlog states should not have halted the adjudication process for the earlier shipped cases. It is horrendous to draw a picture of limited number of analysts and certifying officers in the Backlog Processing Centers beginning to adjudicate over 300,000 cases sometime in the future after completion of the data entries and 45-day letter processing. Supposedly, a large number of these cases are traditional regular applications which will have to go through the time-consuming supervised recruitment process. The announced schedule of 24-30 months removal of all these backlog cases may turn out to be a dream, considering the fact that over eight months have already gone by without completion of preparation phase for processing of the cases. Unless the leaders of DFLC seriously relook at the current plan, operation, and management, they may have to deal with a tough political challenge in the Congress as they will have to hand out begging additional tax-money appropriations. One wonders how the DFLC will be able to persuade the tax payers and the Congressional leaders for the additional money and failures.
The other problem is the flaws in the PERM program. On the surface, there is no noticeable backlog in the new PERM system, but it is a completely false picture for the three reasons. Firstly the flaws in the PERM program have led the employers distancing themselves from filing new applications, particularly refiling cases. Secondly, even though there is no announced statistics, the community has learnt by now that whatever cases the employers filed have faced massive denials. These denials were made by the computer in less than an hour! When the cases are denied so swiftly, there should be no backlog in the pipeline, right? Wrong. It appears that massive denial of the online filing has led or forced employers to file the applications by mail. Unconfirmed sources indicate that there is a heavy backlog of data-entry of these cases by contractors into the online system. This is the third problem which probably the DFLC would not have anticipated in planning the PERM system. The PERM system discourages mail filing but at the same token forces the employers to stay away from the online filing and go for mail filing. It appears that all of the current problems stemmed from the computer software programs that did not properly incorproate various issues which only human beings can adjudicate after considering the totality of circumstances, facts, and evidences. One attorney reports that when the job required a "business" degree and the alien had a "commerce" degree which is another term of the specialty in many countries in the word, including Japan, Korea, India, etc, etc, such application has been instantly denied by the computer. The problem of the PERM system lies with the PERM planners who had overestimated the capability of the computer programs, ignoring the legal process that mandates adjudication of applications based on evidence in totality. Computer "matrix" may work when something can be quantified. The legal adjudication process is not something that can quantify the various evidence which should be considered in many different contexts and circumstances and probably the current PERM program may be seriously violating the rules of the administrative laws. The failure of the computer program to recognize no distinction between the commerce major and the business major is indeed "a tip of iceberg" that the current PERM program has revealed, producing massive denials of applications "instantly." At this point, probably no one has answers to the questions as to how the FDLC will be able to fix these problems. Now, reportedly the two National Processing Centers have recruited the required resources of analysts and certifying officers. This reporter see no other way of fix for the current problems unless the DFLC removes computer matrix decision and has the analysts and certifying officers review the computer results before making a decision. Otherwise, the system not only has a management issue, but also will have to face a serious legal issues in courts.
 
from Murthy.com

Backlog Processing Centers - May 2005 Update

We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy recently received an update on the operations and progress being made at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Backlog Processing Centers (BPCs) located near Philadelphia and in Dallas. The latest information on the BPCs came from the DOL at an American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) meeting in Washington DC on Monday, May 23, 2005. In attendance were many of the attorneys from our Office and senior DOL officials, including Mr. William Carlson, Chief of the Foreign Labor Certification Unit, and Mr. Bill Raybung, who is in charge of the BPC operations, among others.

This article focuses on the progress of the BPCs in an attempt to enlighten the many people who are in the dark with regard to what is going on with their LC cases that were filed and have been pending for a couple of years or even longer.

Number of Cases at BPCs

The DOL originally anticipated receiving 300,000 labor certification cases from the states and DOL regions to the BPCs. The number has actually reached at least 340,000, due to a large number of unexpected filings made between January 1, 2005 and March 27, 2005. During that period, there were approximately 40,000 labor certification cases filed under the previous, non-PERM system in order to qualify before that option expired. The DOL reports that there are still a small number of cases at the DOL Regional Offices in Boston, New York, Denver, and San Francisco, but that these offices are winding down and just working on select cases. These cases will likely be closed by the end of the calendar year 2005. This is consistent with the receipt of a few case approvals that came to The Law Office of Sheela Murthy from the San Francisco Regional Office after the BPCs were established. The DOL will send a final "last call letter" to each state to make sure that all cases been forwarded to the BPCs.

In the meeting, the DOL stated that BPCs are continuing to increase their productivity and the numbers of cases where action has been completed. We note that, to date, our Office has not received a single case adjudication from either of the BPCs. An informal survey of other AILA members present at that May 23, 2005 meeting confirmed this as a similar experience.

45-Day Letters Not in FIFO Order, nor Even by State

As of May 23, 2005, the BPCs had entered about half of the cases into their system. The rest of the cases are still in boxes, waiting to be entered. In an attempt to create some record of each case, the DOL has hired more staff to do an abbreviated data entry. These cases will be given temporary identifications so that the BPCs can confirm whether a case is in the Dallas or Philadelphia center. Though states were instructed to send cases in First-In / First-Out (FIFO) order, some states were unable to do so. Therefore, it is possible that a case filed in a particular state in 2004 may received the 45-day letter from the BPC before a case that was filed in the same state in 2002. The DOL will attempt to provide more information on their website regarding exactly when BPCs received cases from the states and the date ranges of the shipments that they received.

Completed Cases and Errors in Closing Cases

To date, the BPCs have completed action on 12,000 cases. This figure, however, includes cases on which they have received voluntary withdrawals in response to the 45-day letters to employers requesting verification of continued interest in pursuing the case. It also includes cases that were otherwise closed due to, for example, non-receipt of response to the 45-day letters.

There was a rather vigorous discussion about the many cases where either the employer or the attorney had submitted responses to the 45-day letters but the DOL had closed the case in error for failure to respond! Many attorneys voiced their concerns about the problems surrounding this issue. The DOL has not devised an efficient system for fixing this matter, particularly for obtaining proof that the case has been reopened, much to the frustration of all parties concerned. The DOL indicated that the sending of these "closed" letters was a computer glitch and stated that, if proof of the response to the 45-day letter is sent, the case will be "reset" and a letter will be issued to that effect. This reopening will not change the priority date. It is certainly hoped that this problem with the DOL will discontinue, that previously erroneously closed cases will be reopened without difficulty, and that systems will be put into place so that proof of the reopening will be sent in an efficient manner to the employer and the attorney. Given this issue, the number of completed cases may be overstated.

Faster and Better Service Anticipated

The DOL reported that their weekly production rates and IT systems are improving. DOL is also working with the USCIS to determine acceptable proof that a labor certification has been filed in order for USCIS to grant one-year incremental extensions of H1B status to qualified persons who filed labor certifications more than 365 days prior. This is additional critical and time-sensitive evidence that the DOL is required to provide so that the USCIS may approve H1B extensions for eligible H1B employees. Recently, the DOL confirmed that, if the employer is able to provide certain details, like the employer and employee name and the date and state where the labor certification was originally filed, the DOL should be able to provide the necessary evidence to enable an employer to file the annual incremental H1B extension. They may even work out a system of posting certain information on the DOL website that would be acceptable to the USCIS in this regard.

Conclusion

We thank Bill Raybung at the DOL for the update and insights on the BPC operations. Of course, there are concerns over the fact that half the cases remain untouched, without data entry having been started and with no way of confirming their locations. We look forward to the time when the BPC will be able to perform its function and purpose of clearing out the backlog of previously filed labor certification cases at the earliest, but are pleased that the BPCs appear be reaching the point where work on case adjudications has begun.
 
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colgate said:
Thanks Icarus bring us the answers! it really help us.

I summary the questions and answers and put them into FAQ file, hope you will find it useful, Note, all the answers are by Icarus,

http://gcnews.blogdns.org/?q=node/16

Dallas BPC FAQ

Here is a summary from immigrationportal.com with a link back to the original post by Icarus,

1. [orignoal link] DOL and the contractors

The contract was to "eliminate the backlog" in a "timely" manner. That's it. You have roughly 100 people each in two cities from Mailroom Clerk to C.O. with an initial contract of 2 years with possible extensions for year 3 and 4 for a tidy sum of $16-18M. Data entry is estimated to take until March of '06 to complete.THAT'S JUST THE FIRST STEP!!! So, it's no wonder they take great satisfaction in proclaiming #cases being "processed".

2. [original post] do u know if the processing in the final review will get faster? i mean will the contractor add more personal for that queue? and will the queues for RIR and TR remain independent?

Right now there are about a half a dozen on the DOL side (Dallas) working on final review/certifications. That function is still under the domain of the DOL and I don't know if thee are plans to increase their numbers as time progresses.

3. [original post] after march 2006, all the people doin data entry will be moved to the processing queue? in other words, processing will get much faster after march 2006?

Unsure of future plans but as Data Entry dries up, it is likely that additional personnel will be transferred to the review function to maintain the paper flow. Will probably have more info as the Data Entry function approaches conclusion (fall,winter '05?)
Reply With Quote

4.[original post] How a Labor analysis process a case

As an RIR or TR analyst, I would pull the next case from the queue (arranged in FIFO order by PBLS) and attempt to complete analysis and make a recommendation for or against certification. In many cases, if the file is in order and everything is there, this might take 15-20 minutes and then it's sent into the C.O.'s Final Review queue. If there are problems, I might call the agent for additional information (if minor) or recommend NOF, which the agent/employer would be notified of the DOL's intent to deny cert if problems are not addressed within 35 days. If corrective action/documentation is accomplished, the case is reviewed and recommended for cert. If no response or the response falls short of the remedy required, the case is denied. At that point, the case can be dropped by the employer or appealed to BALCA (Labor Court) which reviews the denial and either affirms the decision or returns it to the BEC for further analysis/review.(kinda like Court of Appeals). At any time during the RIR analysis stage, to get back to your question. If we have to wait for a response, the case is set aside pending the response, and the next case is pulled from the queue

5. [original post ] How happen when a case is remand to state

unfortunately, after a remand, the case is pretty much sequestered to TR analysis unless it's evident the remand was erroneous. If it stays in TR, the agent/employer will be contacted re: supervised recruitment process (advertising, posting, etc.)
Reply With Quote

6. [original post ] What are the guidelines an Analyst will follow on an LC to recommend to the CO for certification?

Analysts are responsible for checking data entry into PBLS for accuracy and completeness. Also they determine if all required documents are present in file. If so, analyst fills in checklist in PBLS affirming that recruitment is complete and then forwards case in PBLS to CO for final review and cert.

7. [original post ] What could be the possible reasons that you can think of an LC to require additional information by the Analyst?

Incomplete recruitment results, clarification of discrepancies between Application and supporting documents.

8. [original post ]For what reasons an RIR case will be denied and recommended for NON RIR case?

RIR denial is based upon whether case file evidence supports the assertion by the employer/agent that a bonafide recruitment effort has been accomplished. Missing evidence of advertising, ads and recruitment efforts prior to the 6 month period immediately prior to the request date for RIR-examples

9. [original post ] Under what circumstances an NOF will be issued on LC?How one can overcome on this issue?

NOF's are based upon numerous issues. Frequent examples are questionable proof of employer existence, recruitment that appears to favor the alien (tailoring),vague recruitment results unaddressed by response to #2 above,unduly restrictive job requirements that are beyond what is customarily expected of applicants possessing stated education and experience on 750A, among others. When a NOF is issued, the employer has 35 days to remedy to CO's satisfaction or case will be denied.

10. [original post ]Based on your estimates when one can see the bunch of approvals/RFE's/Denials/NOFS?

Unable to say at present. All of these have cases currently in process.

11[original post ]Do you know how one can appeal(Procedure) the LC when he/she had NOF?

If an employer feels that the NOF is erroneous, they may appeal to BALCA(see DOL website for details) who will review decision and either confirm denial or ask the BEC to reconsider/amend decision.

12. [original post ]When an analyst process the cases, Does he/she follows the guidelines as per the LC filed state or GLOBAL UNIQUE PROCEDURE?"global" or whatever standard the DOL has agreed upon nationwide.

To my knowledge,Until issuing of 45 days letters are completed one may not see much move on decisions of cases as the resources are being utilized in the generation of so called 45 days letters.What is your take on this?Although some personnel may be moved into analysis once Data Entry is wrapped up, the contract was awarded under the proposal that did not propose a 100% analysis labor shift. Obviously, personnel will be needed for mail processing, filing, and other departments, but chances are that as some job functions end, a slight reduction in staff will occur. Unfortunately, most of this is speculation.
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aprlc2002 said:
All TR cases from 01 which made it to Regional would be done in 10 more days. Not sure about RIR.

Also PBPC are also working on 01 cases which did not made it to regional I do not know what they are working for on them may be to approve or to ask for RFE or .......

regards
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orissa said:
This morning I called, got some answer.

1-Any progress in Labor Certification?
yes. We are sending hundreds of decision letter now every week of April 2001 cases.

2-When you say hundreds, is that really more than 100 or more in number?
yes. Its 4 hundred to 5 hundred a week now.

3-Have you aware that Dallas BEC started approving 2002 september.
yes. Because they have more federal staff there working for backlog cases. And we are less here.

4-How many Federal staff in Dallas more than hundred or what?
No. No. They are more than 500.

5-How many here Philly BEC?
We are just over hundred here. The govt asign more staff to Dallas and here in Philly BEC we are short. See I was in vacation since 3 month now, no one here to cover me.
(note:meternity leave)

6-What you think when you all going to hit 2002 cases?
I would say probably in six month. Once 2001 April cases finish everyting will move fatser.

7-What the problem in 2001 cases, why its taking so much time?
There are several reason to delay in 2001 cases. There are hundreds of frivolous application, and some of them filed many application for one business, but our audit did not find any physical business establishment at all.

8-Decision letter you are sending what % of approval?
We are reviewing carefully all application, we can not simply deny, since they are waiting since years and years. There are hundreds approval for genuine application.
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Call 301-613-3335 Tell your story!!

rsiv said:
Hi

A national daily news reporter contacted me to cover our issues. Please contact me if you are inserted to share your problems with the reporter. The idea is to cover different issues impacting work, economy, life and publish the issues for wide audience. Please contact me @301-613-3335 (if not answered, please leave a message with your number and I will call you back).

Some of these efforts will definitely help. I contacted my company and lawyer, they are happy to share information and also add few comments to stress the issues.

In case If you are not interested, please ignore this request and kindly do not start any -ve discussions on this topic.
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My Case Status

Hi,

My Case was filed in regular, EB2 in Arizona. SWA was cleared in early 2004 and was transffered to DOL. I have not yet received the 45 day letter. I have no status on my case, which BEC will my case go to? Can some one take a wild guess when can it be cleared :).

Regular, EB2
State: Arizona
DOL: San Francisco ( I assume)
PD: 12-10-2002
Trasnfer to DOL date : 02-12-2004
 
Murthy Bullitin update

1. Backlog Processing Centers Approving Labor Cases

It appears that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Backlog Processing Centers (BPCs) have started adjudicating pending labor certification (LC) cases. This should come as welcome news to many of our MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers. At The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, we were pleased to receive several LC approvals from the BPCs during the week of July 5, 2005. Before then, a handful of approvals had come from the DOL "satellite" processing centers in Boston, New York, and San Francisco over the last several months, but none from the BPCs in Philadelphia and Dallas. The DOL news that the BPCs were starting to adjudicate cases was addressed in our June 3, 2005 MurthyBulletin article, Backlog Processing Centers - May 2005 Update, available at MurthyDotCom.

Recent LC Approvals from Satellite Office and BPCs

We received four LC approvals on July 5, 2005. One was from the DOL New York satellite processing center. The other three were from the BPCs. Of the three, one case was from Philadelphia. The other two were from Dallas. The case from Philadelphia had originally been filed in Maryland on April 26, 2001. The cases from Dallas had originally been filed in Texas on October 28 and 29, 2002. All three cases had been processed through the local State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) and forwarded to the Regional DOL offices prior to being transferred to the BPCs.

Time Estimates for BPC Approvals

The good news is that, after many months of waiting, the BPCs have reached a stage where they are making final decisions on long-pending cases. Of course, since this is an early batch of LC approvals that we received, there is no way of knowing how quickly the BPCs will adjudicate their pending cases. The BPCs began with 340,000 pending cases to adjudicate. They still have not issued 45-day letters in approximately half of the cases and have not entered data on all cases. For these reasons, it is uncertain whether we will continue to receive finalized case approvals regularly, but the approvals bode well for the BPC processing and approvals. The DOL has estimated about 2 years or longer to wrap up all pending LC cases.

FIFO Adjudication

The DOL has stated that cases will be adjudicated in the First-In / First-Out (FIFO) order. Therefore, older cases should be adjudicated first. The State Workforce Agencies (SWAs), however, did not all follow the DOL instructions regarding boxing and sending the cases to the BPCs. Accordingly, many LC cases need to be sorted and data entered before they can be processed. Our understanding is that they are placed for adjudication in FIFO order, but that there could be cases in boxes with earlier filing dates. Thus, the waiting lines will be adjusted to reflect FIFO order as more cases are unboxed and entered into the system. It therefore may be that we will see some cases with more recent priority dates adjudicated before older cases. This problem should resolve itself once all the cases have been entered into the DOL system for BPC adjudication.
 
Can someone post the Philadelphia BEC contact (Phone #) in this thread ?

Thanks a lot.

There it is
Philadelphia
U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
1 Belmont Avenue, Suite 200
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Phone: (484) 270-1500
Fax: (484) 270-1600


Dallas
U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
700 North Pearl St., Suite 400N
Dallas, Texas 75201
Phone: (214) 237-9111
Fax: (214) 237-9135
 
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NON RIR CASE approved on JUL 10th
wlisa said:
Here is my case:

WV SWA, Non-RIR, EB2 (MS+0 or BS+5)
SWA RD (PD): Apr, 2003
SWA sent to Philly DOL: Feb,2004
45-Day BPC Letter Received: Jan, 2005
45-Day BPC Letter Replied: Feb, 2005
Philly BPC Case #: can't remember

My lawyer told me that she got several approvals but I don't know about their details.she said now PBEC becomes faster.
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Random Approvals!!!

tracker_chicago said:
One other friend of mine got his LCA approved last week (EB2, Non-RIR, IT Related, PD Dec 2003) from Phili BEC. Also 2 others got their LCA approved a week earlier to this(I already posted to this forum), both EB3, Non -RIR, PD June 2003. and also IT Related jobs.

Have no more details on their case details. Was given only the PD by the person themselves, who got their LCA's approved.
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fresh_prince said:
God bless you and other guys: how did you guys get Philly BEC case # for your labor application.

Mine was filed in Sept. 2002 from NJ/ RIR.....no 45 days letter H1 (6 years term) going to expire next year.........
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send email to Philly: h1b7yr@phi.dflc.us For H1 B 7th Year extension

you will get Philly BEC case #
 
fresh_prince said:
God bless you and other guys: how did you guys get Philly BEC case # for your labor application.

Mine was filed in Sept. 2002 from NJ/ RIR.....no 45 days letter H1 (6 years term) going to expire next year.........
Click to expand...

send email to h1b7yr@phi.dflc.us For H1 B 7th Year extension

you will get Philly BEC case #
 
TR approvals...

pevetsa said:
I have been silent up to now, only reading info, my LC is pending in PBEC, in our company we are few guys waiting - our layers got 2 approvals from PBEC - PDs 08/2003 and 10/2003 - TR cases that made it to the regional office in Philly, I don't have more info - so don't ask questions - I tried but it did not work - company policies. That may be a good info for the record keeping guys. Cheers.
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It seems OLD SWA Cases are receiving 45 day letters.,
let's hope they start processing on SWA cases too..

JPMC said:
My RIR was filed on April, 2002 from NY.

Spoke to my Employer's Attorney she said that they have received a bunch of letters from BRC for Nov, 2001 and hopefully the data entry will finish by September end and we should start getting approvals and letters from 2002 onwards. :eek:
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