Maryland SESA Tracker

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talked to MD SESA staff

...the lady said she just heard cases MAY be transferred to philly dol in the future. but she didn't get any further notification from her managers yet.

therefore, MD SESA is still working on case processings slowly...
 
The BECs will use a First-In / First-Out (FIFO) approach to all cases, meaning that the oldest cases will be processed first. A contractor has been hired specifically to determine which regions have the oldest cases and how to efficiently transfer these cases to the BECs. Though FIFO will be used for both RIR and traditional labor certification cases, they will each have a separate track. This means that an RIR processed under the FIFO system likely still will be processed faster than a traditional labor certification processed on a FIFO basis.

For more on this:
http://murthy.com/news/n_doltra.html
 
Regional case transfer

Anyone know how many cases from MS SESA will be transfered ? I am learning from group discussion about Virginia that April 2003 onward cases would be transfered. I am not sure if it has any basis. For MD SESA any push will be a blessing. Did you folks look at the latest report. In one month they process from May 3rd to May 16th. Isn't that increditable productivity ? Just wanted to feel better by ranting.
 
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Virginia is far better than Maryland SESA. Some body in the higher level need to push to process fast.

Please kindly post if you people get the style Maryland following to process the cases.

Thanks
arun
 
LC applied and Work Location changed (but still with same company)

My LC was applied in Dec. 2003 from Virginia. I live and work in Virginia. My LC's has not cleared Virginia SESA yet, but I would like to change my group (BUT still work for the same company). This new group works from Maryland. So I will work from Maryland but continue to live in Virginia. Does that affect my LC application? Will I get into trouble if for some reason Virginia SESA or Philly DOL needs some documentation and then they find out that my work location has changed? If yes, how can I avoid the implications?

BTW, my company has numerous offices in Virginia as well as Maryland; its headquarters are in CA.

Cheers,
V99
 
How Sweet is the PERM Labor Certification Going to Be?

The fate of the PERM program remains a dark secret raising two questions. The first question is whether the White House intends to approve the final regulation at all, and if yes, when. The Chief of Foreign Labor Certification of DOL informally suggested that the future of the PERM program was "promising." One wonders in how many regulatory reviews the OMB has taken such a long period of time either to deny or approve like OMB regulation in its entire rule-making history. The request for the final review was submitted to the OMB on February 23, 2004. The second question is what the PERM system would look like considering the rumor that the final PERM regulation would look substantially different from the already available "proposed" PERM regulation. One has been made clear in that the PERM program would go into effect not 12 weeks after the release of the final regulation but in two months. There are all kinds of rumors as to the steep changes in the substantive requirements in terms of the standards. The most important question involves the processing time. Before the proposed regulation was released, the DOL sources had indicated that the qualified application would be certified in "one week." In the proposed regulation, the processsing time was changed to "21 days." However, in the Congressional report by the Deputy Secretary of DOL, he stated that the DOL was targeting at achieving the labor certification processing times to "six months" and it intended to collect filing fees. If he indeed intended to mean the PERM processing time, it will turn out to be not as sweet as the immigrant community has been hoping for. Again, this issue remain in the dark closet and the DOL sources have been keeping their mouths tightly shut. It is obvious that the PERM program, if it would materialize at all, may bring a lot of surprises to the immigrant community.
 
DOL Philadelphia and Dallas Backlog Processing Center Update

The DOL published a notice this morning that the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is issuing this notice to
announce that DOL has moved its Foreign Labor Certification field staff in the Dallas and Philadelphia Regional Offices to the new Dallas and Philadelphia Backlog Processing Centers. This notice provides the public in the Dallas and Philadelphia regions with contact information regarding these two new processing centers. All foreign labor certification processing activities previously conducted in the Dallas or Philadelphia Regional Offices will now be assumed by the corresponding Dallas or Philadelphia Backlog Processing Center. The Backlog Processing Centers shall continue these functions on an interim basis and ETA shall publish a Federal Register notice in the near future providing guidance as to the handling of backlogged cases with the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). Employers should continue, until ETA publishes future guidance on
this issue, to file applications for H-2B and H-2A, as well as applications for permanent labor certification with the appropriate SWA, which will, in turn, forward materials to the appropriate Backlog Processing Center.
The following new addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers should be used by employers and by State Workforce Agencies for either inquiries or for the forwarding of application materials, as appropriate. Please note: For all application materials, inquiries, and other correspondence sent to either the Dallas or Philadelphia Backlog Processing Center, envelopes should be clearly marked according to the appropriate program type, i.e., Permanent, H2-A or H2-B.

Dallas Backlog Processing Center Address: ETA/DFLC Backlog Processing Center, U.S. Department of Labor, 700 North Pearl Street, Suite 400 N, Dallas, TX 75201, Phone: 214-237-9111, Fax: 214-237-9135.

Philadelphia Backlog Processing Center Address: ETA/DFLC Backlog Processing Center, U.S. Department of Labor, 1 Belmont Avenue, Suite 200, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004, Phone: 484-270-1500, Fax: 484-270-1600.
This notice does not affect the pending proposal to streamline procedures for permanent labor certification under 20 CFR part 656, which was published in the Federal Register on May 6, 2002. For the full text of the DOL federal register announcement, please click here.
 
Vellore99 said:
My LC was applied in Dec. 2003 from Virginia. I live and work in Virginia. My LC's has not cleared Virginia SESA yet, but I would like to change my group (BUT still work for the same company). This new group works from Maryland. So I will work from Maryland but continue to live in Virginia. Does that affect my LC application? Will I get into trouble if for some reason Virginia SESA or Philly DOL needs some documentation and then they find out that my work location has changed? If yes, how can I avoid the implications?

BTW, my company has numerous offices in Virginia as well as Maryland; its headquarters are in CA.

Cheers,
V99


According to my lawyer, Labor Certification is filed for a future job opportunity and where you currently live and work should not matter.
BTW, I live and work in MD but my labor has been applied by my lawyer from the Northern VA office of our company. The advantage is that VA is 1 year faster than MD in state level processing time. My lawyer said that this should not cause a problem since both the VA and MD offices of our company are within normal commuting distance (35 miles) and they are in the same MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area). So, it should not matter if my labor is from VA suburb of DC and then I later work in the MD suburb of DC upon my green card approval. He also mentioned that the purpose of the labor certification is to test a given geographic area (say DC metro area) for availability of US workers who can fill the position. Most DC/MD/VA applicants advertise in The Washington Post newspaper for RIR, since this is the newspaper of largest circulation in the area. This geographic area is collectively called the DC metro area and forms a large MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area). Since both offices in MD and VA are in the same geographic area within "normal" commuting distance, it should not matter if I work later in MD suburbs of DC (upon greencard approval). Hope this helps!
 
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Hi mvinays:

Thanks for your response. What was the RFE for?

BTW, does Reston (VA) and Rockville (MD) qualify within the same MSA? Is there a written-rule regarding this?

V99
 
Vellore99 said:
Hi mvinays:

Thanks for your response. What was the RFE for?

BTW, does Reston (VA) and Rockville (MD) qualify within the same MSA? Is there a written-rule regarding this?

V99

You are welcome.

The RFE was for Item 15 on ETA Form 750-A. Item 15 was "unduly restrictive" to US workers according to VA SESA. My lawyer responded to them by submitting a "business necessity letter" justifying the need for job requirements under Item 15. VA SESA then approved the RIR application and forwarded it to Philly Regional DOL for federal level processing.


Yes, Rockville, MD and Reston, VA are within the same MSA (They are within normal commuting distance). In my case, offices are in Chantilly, VA and Beltsville, MD. There is a written published documentation in the Federal Register on what qualifies as a MSA. You may want to searhc for it online using Google.

The following counties are in DC MSA. Montgomery, Prince George's, Loudon, Frederick, Fairfax, Arlington, District of Columbia, etc. etc. Search online for the publication in the Federal Register. It will have the complete details.
 
Phone no. to find where LC is.

Hi guys,
I was wondering if someone knows which phone # my employer might be able to call to find out where my LC is - state or labor? My state labor had a prevailing wage query and it was sent back to DOL in the beginning of Sep'04.
Thanks.
 
OMB Decision of PERM Final Regulation Extended Again

The White House (OMB) reports today in its web site that the review of this regulatory review has been extended.
 
SWA cases to BEC

Found this post in Phili DOL Forum.

#697 8th December 2004, 03:28 PM
lc4gc
Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 35

SWA cases transition to BEC

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in the first shipment, SWA must send all unopend cases in their systme with receipty dates prior to 2003. this shipment must be received at each SWA's assigned Backlog Processing Center no later than Dec.31 2004.
 
My case

Just to let you guys know that my MD LC has been moved to Pilly DOL. My PD was 4/14/2002. I received an e-mail from my lawyer. Luckily, my NIW I-140 has been approved 10 months ago.
 
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