Chicago Regional DOL Tracker

[gth999]

CP ??

"On the other hand,if u file for CP instead of I-485,you can get your I-140 approved within 2 months"
What is CP ?

 

[img123]

Need some clarification

An Update.....

My attroney called the Backlog Center and they will not provide an update to attorneys either. They have specifically requested that we do not contact them for status requests, as it is taking away limited resources which need to be used to enter and process applications. Once they have received an application from another office, they enter it, assign a new case number, and then issue a continuation letter asking us to confirm that we would like to continue with the application. Once this letter is returned, the application will be processed in order of the date that the application was first filed with the state. All applications will be processed on a first in first out basis, so those applications that have been pending longest will be processed first.

As you mentioned ,they(DOL) at BEC will process the applications on FIFO,Is this true for Regional also??

What I mean is that if some states process the state cases and send to DOL regional ,how they maintain the FIFO ,suppose my case was recived in Chicago regional on July'04 so if cases received after july'04 in chicago from states where the filing dates is older than my filing date and reached Regioanl because of the delay in state processing
if DOL at BEC considers the oldest filed case then eventhough my case reached Chicago DOL in july'04 ,it will not be processed as my filing dates is later than the filing date of the cases received after July'04 in Chicago DOL

Please share your views on this

 

[vipinia]

need help .....

any body can help me ?

my case transfered from sesa oh on july 04 to chicago dol . they have send fax copy about this.now can anybody tell me what will be my PD date. and what will RD date . i dont have any case number yet. can any body help what is going on...

 

[manish_shriv]

Did anyone receive 45 days letter from Dallas BEC

Did anyone receive 45 days letter from Dallas BEC for his/her case moving from Chicago DOL.

PD: 05-NOV-2003 Chicago DOL and now Dallas BEC

 

[immi24]

any body can help me ?

my case transfered from sesa oh on july 04 to chicago dol . they have send fax copy about this.now can anybody tell me what will be my PD date. and what will RD date . i dont have any case number yet. can any body help what is going on...

Vipinia/IMG123
The PD is the date when you filed your labor petition at SESA.

 

[gc_dude123]

Legal Action against DOL

Hi Guys,

I think we all agree that DOL is unfair in making us wait for atleast another year but getting ready to approve the PERM applications filed after March 28th. Some of us think that legal action is the only way to let DOL know that this is unfair and they would have to process the backlogged applications before they start processing the PERM ones. May be the DOL thought that once PERM is in place lot of us would convert to PERM but my attorney told me that its not a good idea to do it especially if its filed under EB3.

All I am asking is think about this for a moment. We need lot of support to get this going. I am thinking we atleast have 100000 people waiting for their labor and if we each contribute $100, we could raise a million dollars. That should be suffiicient to hire an attorney and start the legal proceedings. If I am totally wrong and I am missing something, please do let me know and I would be the happiest person on the Earth if I am gonna get this thing done without any fuss.

I have started a new thread at http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?t=160354 for this purpose. I created a poll to gauge the interest of the fellow forum members in this matter. Please take a moment to vote so that we would know how many people are interested.

 

[lateguy]

Hi Guys,

I think we all agree that DOL is unfair in making us wait for atleast another year but getting ready to approve the PERM applications filed after March 28th. Some of us think that legal action is the only way to let DOL know that this is unfair and they would have to process the backlogged applications before they start processing the PERM ones. May be the DOL thought that once PERM is in place lot of us would convert to PERM but my attorney told me that its not a good idea to do it especially if its filed under EB3.

All I am asking is think about this for a moment. We need lot of support to get this going. I am thinking we atleast have 100000 people waiting for their labor and if we each contribute $100, we could raise a million dollars. That should be suffiicient to hire an attorney and start the legal proceedings. If I am totally wrong and I am missing something, please do let me know and I would be the happiest person on the Earth if I am gonna get this thing done without any fuss.

I have started a new thread at http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?t=160354 for this purpose. I created a poll to gauge the interest of the fellow forum members in this matter. Please take a moment to vote so that we would know how many people are interested.

Don't get me wrong. I may sound to you like a pessi. Everyone knows there is a problem including the government. In a post 9/11 world, there is not a lot you can do it legally on this matter. PERM is coming and BRC is getting implemented and all of this is happening for the only reason "speed up the process". In otherwords, they are doing this for speeding up and better tracking (at least legally this is true even if you disagree with me) We have already enough things to worry about and it is good if we all think practically.

Again, I am very much frustrated as you are. I am already on my 7th year extension and I don't see my LC coming in the next 1 year (at least).

 

[puhrince]

no one is sounding pessi here..its a matter of fairness - yes we are happy PERM is getting implemented..but not at the cost of more delay on the previous cases

Don't get me wrong. I may sound to you like a pessi. Everyone knows there is a problem including the government. In a post 9/11 world, there is not a lot you can do it legally on this matter. PERM is coming and BRC is getting implemented and all of this is happening for the only reason "speed up the process". In otherwords, they are doing this for speeding up and better tracking (at least legally this is true even if you disagree with me) We have already enough things to worry about and it is good if we all think practically.

Again, I am very much frustrated as you are. I am already on my 7th year extension and I don't see my LC coming in the next 1 year (at least).

 

[puhrince]

Update on BEC's

There are the two BECs in Philadelphia, PA and Dallas, TX, as well as two "satellite" backlog centers - New York, NY (with Boston, MA) and San Francisco, CA. The two satellites will stay open for approximately another year. The oldest cases from the regional offices are at the BECs. Open cases at the regions are not moving to the BECs. Each BEC has approximately 200 contract staff members. The federal staff moved to the BECs from the regional offices will make all final case decisions.

San Francisco had the largest volume of backlog cases, so 10,000 of their cases went to Dallas and 10,000 to Philadelphia. The DOL is using UPS for backlog shipments. The contract staff from Exceed Corporation is responsible for getting all of the cases moved to their proper locations. The current expectation is that there are an additional 200,000 cases from the states beyond those moved from the regions.

As of January 4, 2005, only 17 states had sent their backlogged cases that were due on December 31, 2004. This is approximately 24,000 cases. Larger states are slower because they have more cases to box.

Procedures at BECs

BEC operations have been making progress each day. There are many challenges because of the large volume of cases. There is a brand new software system that has glitches and a largely new staff that needs training. To date, they have sent approximately 26,000 "45-day letters." These are letters to potential employers essentially verifying whether or not the employer wishes to pursue the case. Of these, 11,000 had potentially unnecessary questions about the existence of the company because of the insufficient database that was in use. They now have other databases and they will continue to send out these 45-day letters. The DOL requests that the 11,000 letters also be answered, as this is more efficient than their having to send out revised letters.

When the BEC gets a case, it goes through data entry and then the 45-day letter is issued. When the response is received, the case is put into one of the 2 processing streams (RIR or Regular), and those streams are adjusted for FIFO (first-in / first-out order) on a routine basis. Information is in the process of being set up for a public system. Right now, the Boston and New York regional offices are the only locations with accurate information available to the public. The initial data entry that precedes issuance of the 45-day letter is under consideration for possibly being abbreviated so that the files may more quickly be identified as having arrived at the BECs. A national database is being implemented so that it will be possible to call one BEC and get information about the location of the file, regardless of which BEC has the file.

Efforts are currently focused on data entry. It does not appear that cases are being processed as yet. The next step will be to share the BEC software with New York / Boston and San Francisco, once more of the programmatic problems have been worked out.

The DOL expects backlog procedures to be fully defined by the PERM start date of March 28, 2005. Anything filed prior to PERM will be considered a part of the backlog. Backlog elimination is estimated to take approximately 24 to 30 months once PERM has begun. This, in part, depends upon the number of people re-filing under PERM.

Expect DOL Transitional Guidances

The DOL expects to release two more guidances on transitional procedures in the near future. The first will guide the states on procedures once PERM has been implemented. This is expected to be published in the next month. The second notice will outline which states will use the Atlanta National Processing Center (NPC) and which will use the Chicago NPC for PERM. Both guidances will appear in the Federal Register.

Temporary programs, like the H2B program, will move to Atlanta, GA and Chicago, IL so that BECs will be able to focus on backlogs. This transition has not been completed yet. DOL will issue guidance on handling non-PERM cases received after March 28, 2005 (postmarked before March 28, 2005, etc).

What Triggers an Audit under PERM?

Under PERM, there are certain programmatic "flags" that will trigger DOL case audits. Audits will be triggered by responses on the forms. The DOL is using technology to detect anything odd, down to whether the phone number provided for a company is a cell phone number.

Processing Timeframes under PERM

Most PERM cases are expected to be completed in 45 to 60 days, but this processing time will not apply to those cases that are submitted by mail. The system will assign a date to an eFiling automatically. Paper filings will be date stamped.

Previous RIR or Regular Cases Re-Filed as PERM

The DOL will be posting information on the conversion to PERM of cases previously filed under the regular LC or RIR programs. Re-filed applications may take longer to process than other PERM cases that are filed on the new ETA Form 9089. The time will depend upon how many of these are received and where the original case files are located. Most likely, they are going to have a relationship between the BEC database and the PERM database to use technology as much as possible to check whether the filings are identical - a requirement for retaining the original priority date. DOL expects that re-filing a case should still result in a faster labor certification processing than if the case is left at the BEC and not re-filed. With priority date retrogression preventing EB3 cases from reaching the I-485 stage, this faster processing may not result in any net gain in overall green card processing time for those nationals from India, mainland China, and the Philippines affected by the EB3 retrogression of dates. For a detailed analysis of this topic, see our January 21, 2005 MurthyBulletin article, PERM and EB3 Candidates - File Regular LC Now!, available on MurthyDotCom.

Employer Obligations Regarding Recruitment

If there is any doubt as to whether a case is for a professional job, the DOL recommends that the employers complete the professional recruitment. For all cases, the State Workforce Agency or SWA job order must be sent to the SWA, not just America's Job Bank.

If there are laid-off U.S. workers, an explanation as to why they are not qualified should be in the employer's recruitment report. The DOL thinks that recruitment reports are even more important under an attestation model. They do not want "the ink to be too wet" on a recruitment report if there is an audit. That is, it should be prepared at the time the recruitment occurs, not at the time of an audit. The DOL will also be checking whether the employer is aware that a case was filed for the particular employee. Thus it appears that there may be greater scrutiny by the DOL if an employer files on behalf of a future employee.

Deadlines for Responses to DOL

Under PERM, there is supposed to be a 30-day deadline for any information that the DOL requests. The DOL believes this is better than different deadlines for different types of requests. The DOL emphasized that 30 days for audit letters is only taking into account that someone may be out of town, but they expect the data to be readily available and sent in much earlier.

Prevailing Wages

The DOL is working with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on the four prevailing wage levels required under the 2004 Omnibus Act and expect to have guidance and training available on this issue prior to March 8, 2005. As some of our readers may be aware, PERM requires the DOL to consider four levels of wages instead of the existing two levels. This has caused a great deal of hardship and potential problems for employers and employees.

 

[lavendersummer]

can somebody explain what is the role of "satellite" backlog centers here? Will they be limited only to the cases from their regions that were not sent to BEC or will they process cases that is in BEC database?

Thanks.

There are the two BECs in Philadelphia, PA and Dallas, TX, as well as two "satellite" backlog centers - New York, NY (with Boston, MA) and San Francisco, CA. The two satellites will stay open for approximately another year. The oldest cases from the regional offices are at the BECs. Open cases at the regions are not moving to the BECs. Each BEC has approximately 200 contract staff members. The federal staff moved to the BECs from the regional offices will make all final case decisions.

San Francisco had the largest volume of backlog cases, so 10,000 of their cases went to Dallas and 10,000 to Philadelphia. The DOL is using UPS for backlog shipments. The contract staff from Exceed Corporation is responsible for getting all of the cases moved to their proper locations. The current expectation is that there are an additional 200,000 cases from the states beyond those moved from the regions.

As of January 4, 2005, only 17 states had sent their backlogged cases that were due on December 31, 2004. This is approximately 24,000 cases. Larger states are slower because they have more cases to box.

Procedures at BECs

BEC operations have been making progress each day. There are many challenges because of the large volume of cases. There is a brand new software system that has glitches and a largely new staff that needs training. To date, they have sent approximately 26,000 "45-day letters." These are letters to potential employers essentially verifying whether or not the employer wishes to pursue the case. Of these, 11,000 had potentially unnecessary questions about the existence of the company because of the insufficient database that was in use. They now have other databases and they will continue to send out these 45-day letters. The DOL requests that the 11,000 letters also be answered, as this is more efficient than their having to send out revised letters.

When the BEC gets a case, it goes through data entry and then the 45-day letter is issued. When the response is received, the case is put into one of the 2 processing streams (RIR or Regular), and those streams are adjusted for FIFO (first-in / first-out order) on a routine basis. Information is in the process of being set up for a public system. Right now, the Boston and New York regional offices are the only locations with accurate information available to the public. The initial data entry that precedes issuance of the 45-day letter is under consideration for possibly being abbreviated so that the files may more quickly be identified as having arrived at the BECs. A national database is being implemented so that it will be possible to call one BEC and get information about the location of the file, regardless of which BEC has the file.

Efforts are currently focused on data entry. It does not appear that cases are being processed as yet. The next step will be to share the BEC software with New York / Boston and San Francisco, once more of the programmatic problems have been worked out.

The DOL expects backlog procedures to be fully defined by the PERM start date of March 28, 2005. Anything filed prior to PERM will be considered a part of the backlog. Backlog elimination is estimated to take approximately 24 to 30 months once PERM has begun. This, in part, depends upon the number of people re-filing under PERM.

Expect DOL Transitional Guidances

The DOL expects to release two more guidances on transitional procedures in the near future. The first will guide the states on procedures once PERM has been implemented. This is expected to be published in the next month. The second notice will outline which states will use the Atlanta National Processing Center (NPC) and which will use the Chicago NPC for PERM. Both guidances will appear in the Federal Register.

Temporary programs, like the H2B program, will move to Atlanta, GA and Chicago, IL so that BECs will be able to focus on backlogs. This transition has not been completed yet. DOL will issue guidance on handling non-PERM cases received after March 28, 2005 (postmarked before March 28, 2005, etc).

What Triggers an Audit under PERM?

Under PERM, there are certain programmatic "flags" that will trigger DOL case audits. Audits will be triggered by responses on the forms. The DOL is using technology to detect anything odd, down to whether the phone number provided for a company is a cell phone number.

Processing Timeframes under PERM

Most PERM cases are expected to be completed in 45 to 60 days, but this processing time will not apply to those cases that are submitted by mail. The system will assign a date to an eFiling automatically. Paper filings will be date stamped.

Previous RIR or Regular Cases Re-Filed as PERM

The DOL will be posting information on the conversion to PERM of cases previously filed under the regular LC or RIR programs. Re-filed applications may take longer to process than other PERM cases that are filed on the new ETA Form 9089. The time will depend upon how many of these are received and where the original case files are located. Most likely, they are going to have a relationship between the BEC database and the PERM database to use technology as much as possible to check whether the filings are identical - a requirement for retaining the original priority date. DOL expects that re-filing a case should still result in a faster labor certification processing than if the case is left at the BEC and not re-filed. With priority date retrogression preventing EB3 cases from reaching the I-485 stage, this faster processing may not result in any net gain in overall green card processing time for those nationals from India, mainland China, and the Philippines affected by the EB3 retrogression of dates. For a detailed analysis of this topic, see our January 21, 2005 MurthyBulletin article, PERM and EB3 Candidates - File Regular LC Now!, available on MurthyDotCom.

Employer Obligations Regarding Recruitment

If there is any doubt as to whether a case is for a professional job, the DOL recommends that the employers complete the professional recruitment. For all cases, the State Workforce Agency or SWA job order must be sent to the SWA, not just America's Job Bank.

If there are laid-off U.S. workers, an explanation as to why they are not qualified should be in the employer's recruitment report. The DOL thinks that recruitment reports are even more important under an attestation model. They do not want "the ink to be too wet" on a recruitment report if there is an audit. That is, it should be prepared at the time the recruitment occurs, not at the time of an audit. The DOL will also be checking whether the employer is aware that a case was filed for the particular employee. Thus it appears that there may be greater scrutiny by the DOL if an employer files on behalf of a future employee.

Deadlines for Responses to DOL

Under PERM, there is supposed to be a 30-day deadline for any information that the DOL requests. The DOL believes this is better than different deadlines for different types of requests. The DOL emphasized that 30 days for audit letters is only taking into account that someone may be out of town, but they expect the data to be readily available and sent in much earlier.

Prevailing Wages

The DOL is working with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on the four prevailing wage levels required under the 2004 Omnibus Act and expect to have guidance and training available on this issue prior to March 8, 2005. As some of our readers may be aware, PERM requires the DOL to consider four levels of wages instead of the existing two levels. This has caused a great deal of hardship and potential problems for employers and employees.

 

[stupidusr]

Chicago Case moved to Dallas BEC

Hi!

Case Priority Date (PD): March 6th 2003 (03/06/2003)
Receipt Date (RD) at Chicago DOL: May 24th 2004 (05/24/2004)

On 28th Jan 2005, called Chicago NPC (at 312-886-8000) and was told by the lady there that my case has been forwarded to Dallax, TX. She also said that my case may have been assigned a new case no. at Dallas, TX. She couldn't tell the date the case was forwarded to Dallas. Also, said that my lawyer or employer could call Dallas, TX BEC at 214-237-9111 to find out the status of my case.

Just wanted to share this info. Is there a list of such cases which can be updated, please let me know.

Thanks.

 

[sriraj9]

Aug, 2004 Chicago

Hi all,
Mine was initiated from Wisconsin in Jan, 04. Approved for state and sent to Chicago in Aug, 04. What may be the fate of it? Can someone throw any light on it?

Thanks in advance,
Sriraj9

 

[LaborIL]

Update on 45 day letters

From immigration-law.com ---

We posted on January 21, 2005 the information from the DOL sources that the cases pending at the Chicago Region V office had been transferred to and data-entried at the Dallas Backlog Center. The next step was reportedly to mail out so-called 45-day letters. The attorneys including this law firm started receiving such 45-day letters indicating that the Dallas Center had moved to the next phase for the Chicago Region office cases. Small good news.
------------------------

 

[prem_chouda]

Friends,

My employer is saying (infact, he was told by the lawyer) that all the cases moved to BRC (Dallas) may not get that 45 letter notice .. is that TRUE ?? please share this info if any of you also here like this..

PD: Nov 2003 (IOWA)
DOL -Chicago - Dec 23, 2003

Thanks
Mavi

 

[GC_DJ]

All cases received at Dallas BEC should receive 45 letter sooner or later. This is the procedure of Dallas BEC to first enter the data and generate 45 day letter. The case will be processed only after they receive response to the 45 day letter within 45 days. If they do not get a timely response, they will close the case.

Friends,

My employer is saying (infact, he was told by the lawyer) that all the cases moved to BRC (Dallas) may not get that 45 letter notice .. is that TRUE ?? please share this info if any of you also here like this..

PD: Nov 2003 (IOWA)
DOL -Chicago - Dec 23, 2003

Thanks
Mavi

 

[Kanjoos]

All will get 45 day letter

Your employer is giving incorrect info. Dallas is sending letters for Chicago Region now, so hopefully every one will get letters in next 2 weeks or so.

Thanks,
Kanjoos

Friends,

My employer is saying (infact, he was told by the lawyer) that all the cases moved to BRC (Dallas) may not get that 45 letter notice .. is that TRUE ?? please share this info if any of you also here like this..

PD: Nov 2003 (IOWA)
DOL -Chicago - Dec 23, 2003

Thanks
Mavi

 

[LaborIL]

Question

The news is that all the cases from SESAs would also get transfered to the BEC. Would those cases just get in line with the cases transfered from DOLs according to the priority date? Is there any advantage for a case transfered through DOL over the case transfered through SESA?

 

[vipinia]

changing employer before labor clear

hi guys
mine labor filled from oh in 2001.now i am getting good offer from other company. now i have question ? if i join that company. what will happen to my current labor. can i carry this with new company. because one of my friend told me that u can carry this labor if labor is filled from previous company is more than one year . now can any focus on this. is that possible?what is correct way and if itis true how is works ?
thanks in advance..

 

[Kanjoos]

No You can not carry Labour

I am sure you can not carry labour from one company to other. The Labour is filed on behalf of company and not on behalf of a person.

You got incorrect information. Do not change the company. Its suicide.

!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT CHANGE COMPANY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks,
Kanjoos

hi guys
mine labor filled from oh in 2001.now i am getting good offer from other company. now i have question ? if i join that company. what will happen to my current labor. can i carry this with new company. because one of my friend told me that u can carry this labor if labor is filled from previous company is more than one year . now can any focus on this. is that possible?what is correct way and if itis true how is works ?
thanks in advance..

 

[anandrajesh]

No

Dont do that. You will lose everything and you gotta start the process all over again. Considering the delays in everything you may have to wait a lot of years b4 anything to happen.

Stay in ur current job. Dont switch ur jobs now. Wait for some more time.

hi guys
mine labor filled from oh in 2001.now i am getting good offer from other company. now i have question ? if i join that company. what will happen to my current labor. can i carry this with new company. because one of my friend told me that u can carry this labor if labor is filled from previous company is more than one year . now can any focus on this. is that possible?what is correct way and if itis true how is works ?
thanks in advance..