Philadelphia Regional DOL Tracker - Old (Archived on 09/23/2004)

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LC certification

Hi Guys..

Having been in the same boat as all of you out there, I know how it feels to be frustrated due to backlogs.

DOL is scrutinizing LC applications that have been filed from DE. Many companies opened shell fronts in DE just to take advantage of the faster processing times there. So I dont support people who are just exploiting a situation just to get ahead in the queue (Infact, I had waited a long excruciating 3 years with another employer in a different state in queue earlier).

Since many seem to wondering about my LC approval, I thought to post my case info. Currently, I work with a genuine company in the same area of intended employment and have filed taxes(payslips reflect the same address in the same city) for several years in the same intended place of employment from the same employer. Besides my company has not laid-off any workers and is an established business which employs a lot of American citizens in the same place of intended employment. Since my current work place and the LC work area are the same (in addition to my employer also being present in the same city)...and all the recruitment efforts were carried out in good faith...and filed as EB3-RIR...maybe I did not have issues with the certification and got certified from Philly DOL.

I dont intend to put you guys down...but you have to wait the walk and stop getting frustrated from filing from DE...It kinda stumps me that people who have just landed in US a couple of years ago complaining about LC certification backlogs...as far the rest who are old timers like me...hang in there guys!

Good luck !
 
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Hi guys,
The person responsible for our immigration process at my company refuses to give me the application number so that I can check my status. I went ahead and found some numbers using the company phone number and located a number which I believe is my number.

Anyway, when i told about that to the same person, I got a mouthful from her that this is illegal and I would be misrepresenting myself and blah blah blah. that it might cause my application to be canceled but she would pretend she didn't hear. (whatever...... for her it's just another application.. for me it's my life.. )

is that true? how did you guys get your numbers?

thanks.

ers_md
 
ERS_md,

Your lawyer should give you case number.
There is nothing illegal in that. OR it will impact your case adversly.
So don;t worry about it.
 
its cool that you found your case #
But, why did you have to talk about it to your representor?
At any case, dont piss them off. Mind you, every single day is important and you dont want any delays in pushing your case to the next level.
And btw, its all bull about the illegality of you finding your case #. Its public information :)
So, dont worry about it. Send her some roses for the valentines day and keep your lawyer happy! :)
-varsity

Originally posted by ers_md
Hi guys,
The person responsible for our immigration process at my company refuses to give me the application number so that I can check my status. I went ahead and found some numbers using the company phone number and located a number which I believe is my number.

Anyway, when i told about that to the same person, I got a mouthful from her that this is illegal and I would be misrepresenting myself and blah blah blah. that it might cause my application to be canceled but she would pretend she didn't hear. (whatever...... for her it's just another application.. for me it's my life.. )

is that true? how did you guys get your numbers?

thanks.

ers_md
Click to expand...
 
Latest news

3. Philadelphia Region DOL Warns against Forum Shopping

A quick review of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Case-Processing Chart reflects that the time it takes to process a labor certification case, whether RIR or non-RIR, varies widely according to the location of filing. Although DOL processing is within the purview of federal law that should be uniform and consistent throughout the United States, the reality is different. The processing times for certain states is measured in years, while for other states it is measured in months. This disparity in processing times has provided an incentive to some companies to try establishing a proper basis for filing in the faster jurisdictions. The DOL has started to closely scrutinize these cases, at least in the Philadelphia and Boston Regions.

Incentive for Employers to Seek Faster Jurisdictions

Some employers, faced with a decision as to the best location of a new office or for expansion of an existing office, give consideration to the favorable labor certification processing times in certain states. The employers may feel they have little choice if they are to attract and retain skilled and experienced workers. The lengthy DOL processing delays result in expenses to an employer, both in considerable financial resources and in the potential loss of experienced employees to competitors willing and able to file in those states where labor certifications are administered much more quickly.

DOL Had Issued No Clear Definition for Headquarters

This strategy, now being referred to disparagingly by the DOL as "forum shopping," is based upon a long-standing DOL advisory letter and practice of allowing labor certifications of roving employees to be filed at a company's headquarters or main branch office. The opinion did not provide a definition of headquarters. Accordingly, this provided some flexibility with respect to the location of filings. This approach generally has been accepted and successful over the years and has not been challenged by the DOL. However, the DOL Philadelphia Region recently advised that they are closely investigating some of the offices in Delaware and other states with faster processing that are being used as a basis for labor certification filings. They have also discussed this matter with the Boston Region because New Hampshire has many cases similar to those filed at Delaware due to its faster processing timeframes.

DOL Requires Headquarters as Jurisdiction for Filing LCs

Some employers working primarily over the Internet and with technology claim that they do not have any fixed work location and legally may decide to make any location their headquarters. Such employers allege that the DOL cannot force them to have their headquarters in another jurisdiction. The problem seems to stem from the manner in which some companies set up their new offices. The DOL officials have paid visits to offices in Delaware and other states, apparently to find virtually non-existent operations. Offices without staff, equipment, telephones, and basic business operations apparently do not meet the DOL's new criteria. The DOL is reviewing the work location noted on a company's H1B Labor Condition Applications for a majority of its employees for determining the location of a company's headquarters.

The DOL states that it believes a substantial number of employers are filing labor certifications in the wrong jurisdictions (forum shopping) and that it considers this to be a serious problem. The DOL is concerned that some of the companies are not legitimately transacting any business at these locations. Employers believing that cases they filed are at risk should contact their immigration attorneys. Many cases are likely to be questioned, and Notice of Findings (NOFs) issued when the DOL suspects forum shopping. The DOL has already started issuing such NOFs. Employers should be prepared for this possibility if they have cases of this nature pending. They should be ready to justify the place of the filing and should document their ongoing business operations in the selected state.

The headquarters rule is a matter of policy and practice. At various times, policies, practices, and legal interpretations change. This is often due to personnel changes, as is the case with the Philadelphia DOL.

Future Strategy in Such Cases and Potential Lawsuits

This change of policy could result in discussions and negotiations with the DOL and possible lawsuits or threat of lawsuits. Some employers are outraged with the abrupt change of DOL policy without any advance notice to employers or their attorneys. They have acted in good faith reliance in accordance with previously-approved cases, believing that they were legally allowed to file in jurisdictions with faster processing times under a broad definition of the term "headquarters." Sometimes years have been invested in the process. Employers will likely argue that they have relied, to their detriment, on long-standing DOL policy, and incurred substantial expense for newspaper advertisements and legal fees based on DOL's past conduct and policy over the last eight to ten years. One of the motivating factors for the DOL to start investigating these cases appears to be simply to reduce their own backlogs. The DOL Headquarters may have issued a mandate that all backlogs need to be cleared in the near future or, at the latest, soon after PERM regulations are released.


© The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C.

(Source http://murthy.com/bulletin.html#3)
 
spidey and other non-rirs

I just got word from my lawyer that my case has been moved to Regional DOL. My recruitment report after we ran the ad was received by SESA on 10/25/03 . Hope this helps.
 
Thanks Shalinilulla

***********************
I just got word from my lawyer that my case has been moved to Regional DOL. My recruitment report after we ran the ad was received by SESA on 10/25/03 . Hope this helps
**************************
Shalinilulla:

What state was your SESA from? Was it PA?

thnx for the update.
spidey
 
LC Case num

Hi ers_md

Some of the SESA's dont assign any case numbers. But when the LC app moves from SESA to DOL, SESA sends an intimation to the lawyer that the case has moved to DOL and then specifies a case number....Using this case number, you can then find out the status of ur case calling the voice ATM...

The rep of you company is just misleading you that your case would get cancelled if you call the telephone number. LC filings are public data and anyone can take a look at them and are covered by the freedom of information act-FOIA..If you are interested in knowing how many LC's your employer has filed in the past, you can take a look a the following db...though, I am afraid its not uptodate...

http://www.flcdatacenter.com/casesearchperm.asp

Good luck !
 
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question on DOL case number format

Hello gurus here,

I am bit confused about the case number given to a labor cert case by regional DOL.

My lawyer has given me a case number like

P20**-PA-0340**** for my labor appl and said it has moved to regional office.

But I see on the AVM as well as this forum that case numbers are always like 033*****.

So is it that the case number that AVM/this forum refers to is actually a last part of a big case number?
Please let me know.

BTW, I could see that last part of my case number (ie 0340****) is listed on AVM.

Thanks
 
Re:question on DOL case number format

Yes nviren, you are right about your interpretation about PA DOL assigned case number (in a receipt) v/s the case number often used int he forum and on AVM.

pgae
 
reg : NON-RIR

Shalinulla/ALL
I did hear from the lawyer last week saying that

"Your application has met the PA Dept. of Labor standards and will be transmitted to the Federal DOL in the next month
(hopefully) then we will be able to track it via the
automated phone system and you will receive a number
for your case.
I'll check in a month to see if the FED DOL has
received it.""

So it looks like mine got approved too..But my Lawyer also says that it will take a month for the application to be moved over to Federal DOL..Is that what your lawyer told ? Also i checked the AVM and i dont see my information..Did you check yours ? will it take sometime for the info. to be updated ?

Thanks,
 
Hi nkvatsan,

I don't think it will take one month to transfer case from SESA to DOL. It took three days for my case to move from MD SESA to Phily DOL.
 
nkvatsan

my lawyer told me that they got some intimation saying that my case has been moved from SESA to the DOL on the 11th of Feb .. I have not yet received my case number from him, but I tried calling the automated system and searching by employer phone number and I did not find my case .. I shall try to get my case number from the lawyer and try with that .. will keep u updated ...u do the same ..thanks
 
Any approvals?

Any apprivals recently from July OR august cases?
OR just NOFs .
What's going on with Philly DOL ?
Does any body know ?
 
3 yrs bachelors

Hi Friends,

I am new to this Phili DOL thread but my labor cet is filed at MD state. I have a question and really appreciate if any one shed some lights on this,

I have a 3 yrs of bachelors(Maths, Physics and Chemistry) and 12 years of IT experience, 6 yrs in U.S and 6 yrs back in India.

Does having 3yrs of bachelors cause any problems in my LC? My labor for GC filed for more than 2 years.

I'm worried since all my efforts become invain if my LC is denied.

Any one with 3 yrs of bachelors cleared LC?

Thanks.
 
Re: 3 yrs bachelors

Hello Ciril99,

Just your qualifications may not mean much. You have to see if the advertisements (wording like bachelors or equivalent experience etc) match your qualifications! Also, you may be able to get an evaluation that your educational qualification and experience are equivalent to the job erquirements. Without all those details no one can tell for sure.

Also try posting those details in the General LC forum, you may get more answers.

Good luck,
-Prad





Originally posted by ciril99
Hi Friends,

I am new to this Phili DOL thread but my labor cet is filed at MD state. I have a question and really appreciate if any one shed some lights on this,

I have a 3 yrs of bachelors(Maths, Physics and Chemistry) and 12 years of IT experience, 6 yrs in U.S and 6 yrs back in India.

Does having 3yrs of bachelors cause any problems in my LC? My labor for GC filed for more than 2 years.

I'm worried since all my efforts become invain if my LC is denied.

Any one with 3 yrs of bachelors cleared LC?

Thanks.
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