FYI
from
www.murthy.com
http://www.murthy.com/bulletin.html
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RIR Processing
The DOL headquarters is expected to issue field guidance on Reduction in Recruitment (RIR) processing by mid-November 2003. This guidance is expected to provide insight on adjudication of RIR applications that have been pending for lengthy periods, as well as how the DOL will consider new applications filed under RIR procedures.
Backlog Reduction Plan
Two backlog reduction centers are scheduled to open in Dallas, Texas and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The pilot backlog reduction center in Gaithersburg, Maryland, however, will be closed at the end of 2003. The two new centers are expected to become operational quickly, resulting from the testing of software and the development of training materials at the pilot office.
The various avenues outlined above are steps in the direction towards reducing labor certification backlogs; which, obviously, are desperately needed. With the implementation of the field guidance on RIR and the publication of the PERM regulations, we anticipate that years of waiting for labor certification approval will be a thing of the past. Hopefully, PERM will not make things worse in the future, with LC cases being quickly approved, only to be revoked upon DOL investigation. If this is the resulting situation, we will have solved the problem of delays with the bigger problem of uncertainty when an LC case is finally approved
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