The state of NOF processing...
Hi Rahul..
My company\'s cases are coming back as NOFs also, and our lawyers acknowledge this is due to layoffs. Here\'s what\'s going on: DOL gives the company a month or so to file the rebuttal (the company takes the whole month in our case), after which they are supposed to adjudicate on whether the rebuttal is valid. I know of one person whose rebuttal was accepted in 1 week, and he cleared 140 in 6 weeks and is now in 485. The rest of my colleagues are still waiting (it has been over two months since their rebuttals were received), hoping, praying. The company basically has to explain why you are still employed in place of the many Americans that were likely let go. If you are a Hardware Design Engineer 4, and 20 other Hardware Design Engineer 4\'s were let go from your site, it is a difficult case to make, and they basically have to make the case that you are UNIQUELY qualified and that those who were let go were not. Of course they have to make that case with the skills you brought to the job, not anything you have learned while here - so the argument that you havebeen in the position for x number of yeas and have experience does not hold water. I have also heard that they might tr to make a \'business justification\' case for key employees, although I have not seen any provision in the laws regarding this for labor cert. The key here is that the ball is in your employer\'s court - how hard they try determines most of the outcome here. I say most because ultimately, it is upto the case officer looking at your case. I know of some VERY LARGE companies that have basically thrown in the towel and told their H1s to chill till the economy picks up again. My employer (another LARGE company) is trying very hard for EVERY case - I won\'t hold anything against them if this doesen\'t work out \'cos I know how much work they are putting in behind the scenes for each and every case. What can the outcomes be?? Well, ideally, DOL\'ll like the rebuttal and let us proceed to I-140. If not, they may decide to do one of two things: Deny the labor cert (for non RIR) which means you cannot reapply for another six months, or, in the case of RIR, deny the RIR and send it back to the non-RIR line. You wait there till they process your case(advertize job openings, conduct interviews etc) and then they can either certify you or deny you, in which case you\'re hosed for six months. In either case, we\'re all in for a waiting game. Best of luck to all.