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

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VAhoper said:
Lets all put in comments. This is the lease we can do for ourselves. Lets stress that we are already in regional office and have waited a long time. Based on the initial filing date (The first filing date with state dol), we should be processed first. Also, since state offices have already processed our cases, our cases should just be granted approval immediately. They are combining the state and regional processing into one step in this backlog reduction effort anyway.
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Hate being a wet blanket, but I dont think we constitute 'interested persons'. I mean we ARE affected but legally (I think) its none of our business. The LCs belong to the company not to the employee. An employee has no say over LC. Further, the 'interested persons' mentioned in the Fed publication refers to DOL, SWA and other Govt. departments who might be affected - in legal, budgetary and personnel areas, not even employers, let alone you or me.

Sending e-mails and taking action is always good, and I was among the first to send letters to DOL. But that is only to 'appeal', not a persuance of our 'right' since we dont have any :p . However, in this case, its prudent to wait for a while and see how things progress. The current discussion about who will get priority is just based on assumptions and until these things are first fleshed out and implemented any e-mail will have little credibility or impact.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion, and I may be wrong.... was just thinking aloud.
 
Pineapple said:
Hate being a wet blanket, but I dont think we constitute 'interested persons'. I mean we ARE affected but legally (I think) its none of our business. The LCs belong to the company not to the employee. An employee has no say over LC. Further, the 'interested persons' mentioned in the Fed publication refers to DOL, SWA and other Govt. departments who might be affected - in legal, budgetary and personnel areas, not even employers, let alone you or me.

Sending e-mails and taking action is always good, and I was among the first to send letters to DOL. But that is only to 'appeal', not a persuance of our 'right' since we dont have any :p . However, in this case, its prudent to wait for a while and see how things progress. The current discussion about who will get priority is just based on assumptions and until these things are first fleshed out and implemented any e-mail will have little credibility or impact.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion, and I may be wrong.... was just thinking aloud.
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Pineapple , I disagree with you and here is why:

1 . First of all they time frame to send comments is only 30 days. So if we wait and find out they are processing state cases first, and then we start sending” comments", they will come back and say its too late.

2. The officials may over look the fact that folks with regional cases have already waited 2+ years. If we send them comments, even if we are not supposed to be "interested person", at least it will bring this matter to their attention.

3. If they are so specific about who can be an "interested person", they should have specified it. Just like they have specified exactly what to say on subject line of comments and dates these comments should be received.

4. Even if we are not supposed to be "interested persons", what the worst can happen? Are they going to say, " Hey these people are sending emails, lets punish them and push the state cases first".

We have nothing to loose, if we send comments.
We might gain, if we send comments.


My 2 cents.
 
Thanks vikram, your link makes it easier for everyone. I have sent out my comment there, saying that beneficiaries of cases sent to Philly DOL from state level have to be considered as priority in transferring and processing.

vikram_p said:
I agrre we should send our comments. This can be done directly for people not interested in sending through e-mail

click this link to directly send comments:

http://comments.regulations.gov/EXTERNAL/Comments.cfm?DocketID=04-16536&CFID=28170&CFTOKEN=73974768
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Interim Final Rule on Backlog Reduction Published

Interim Final Rule on Backlog Reduction Published

On July 21, 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published the interim final rule implementing its labor certification backlog reduction plan. For those unaware of why a backlog reduction plan is necessary, there are thousands of labor certifications and RIR applications pending at the various state and federal DOL regional offices, some since 2001, that are yet to be processed. The goal of the DOL is to complete the processing of most such LC and RIR cases within approximately two years after PERM is implemented. To clear the backlogs, DOL has decided to create two centralized backlog reduction processing sites as mentioned in the interim final rule.

The interim final rule will become effective 30 days from the date it was published. A comment period is also open during that time, but it is unlikely that there will be many changes at the final rule stage.

The backlog reduction plan amends the regulations to permit the National Certifying Officer (NCO), who is the Chief of the Division of Foreign Labor Certifications, to direct a State Workforce Agency (SWA), or a federal regional office to transfer a pending application or set of pending applications to a centralized processing site. Essentially, it grants the power to move the backlogged cases either from a SWA or a federal region to a new, centralized processing center.

Procedure for Processing Cases at the Backlog Centers

The NCO will issue a directive to the SWA or regional office regarding how to identify the cases to be transferred. For each case transferred from an SWA, the centralized processing site will complete all the functions normally performed by the SWA and the Regional Certifying Officer. If the case is unique or complex, the central processing site will consult with the NCO, who may assume responsibility for completion of the case. The NCO may also direct that certain types of cases be sent from their respective centralized processing sites to the national office of the Department of Labor. We also note that, although cases can be transferred from the SWAs, the DOL has stated that the plan is to transfer cases initially from regional offices, as explained below.

Locations of Backlog Reduction Centers

As previously indicated in our June 18, 2004 MurthyBulletin article entitled, Labor Certification Update - 2004, available on MurthyDotCom, the DOL has stated that there will be two central processing sites. One will be in Philadelphia, PA, and the other will be in Dallas, TX. This backlog reduction plan will only apply to cases filed under the current procedures. The plan will not apply to cases that will be filed under PERM, when the PERM regulation is finalized. It is likely that PERM will not be published until the fall, and it is still expected that the implementation of PERM will not occur until 120 days after the PERM rule is published in the Federal Register.

We do not expect that all cases caught in the backlog will be sent immediately to the central processing sites. The NCO is permitted to send cases to these sites, but is not required to do so. As detailed in the earlier MurthyBulletin article, cited above, the DOL intends to send cases from the Philadelphia and Dallas federal regions to these centers first, followed by cases from the Atlanta, GA and Chicago, IL federal regions. Atlanta and Chicago are also expected to be the two future homes of centralized PERM processing centers. After those case transfers are complete, cases from other regions may be added. Since the NCO has discretion in this matter, however, this plan may change at any time.

Timeframes for Completing Backlog Processing

DOL officials have stated that the goal is to try and complete all LC and RIR backlog processing within 2 years of PERM's implementation. The rule itself, however, does not give a timeline for the completion of processing backlogged cases. The comments on the rule state that "the extent of centralized processing and the speed with which the current backlog will be reduced may vary based upon program priorities." Therefore, it may be some time before we can determine the effectiveness of this system and see any change in processing backlogs of labor certifications and RIR applications for permanent residency.

Conclusion

We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. will continue to closely monitor the law and procedures, as well as our own cases, for any changes that are tied to the centralized processing and backlog reduction. We, in turn, will pass that information along to MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers.

Source: http://www.murthy.com
 
Dude, cool down

Cool down Dude.I'm not spamming your message board.If I want to spam nobody can stop me or anybody from doing it.I can change my Id and come back with messages.

I can trash you too...so just stop and share some meaningful information.
 
What should I do

Ok,.. so my case was sent to philly from VA on July 31st 2003 (RIR). They are currently processing July 2003 so they may not have got to my file.
I tried calling to automated system and punched in the 8 digit receipt number. The system says that it has no record of my app. My question is whether the system can read that number only when they open my file (when they hit july 31st) or when the receive the application (in which case something is obviously incorrect)? :confused:
 
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meaningful information - on www.desichai.com!!

Hello Sanjana,
I'd appreciate if ya take these in their right sense/ tense.
Wat ya did on the first count didn't look good at all and again ya carried it in the same way by sending this msg(below).

PS: I don't think ne 1 is "invisible" out here...

Thanks,
Immidude74


sanjana_7788 said:
Cool down Dude.I'm not spamming your message board.If I want to spam nobody can stop me or anybody from doing it.I can change my Id and come back with messages.

I can trash you too...so just stop and share some meaningful information.
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Well I am October 2003 and have been able to access my case on AVM since Novenber 2003. What is the format of your 8 digit number. let us know the first four digits and then put 4 X's for example my number is 0339XXXX Yours should be a few thousand or so earlier than that. That said there is nothing more disappointing every time I call to hear "your case was received on xxxx" Which basically means they have done nothing to it since then :-)

Oh well maybe in the next few months salvation will arrive.

:-)
 
Centralized Processing of Labor Certifications: PERM vs. Backlog Reduction Center

:( As the DOL moves step by step from the local/regional processing system to national/centralized processing systems, the labor certification process will witness uniformity and consistency in processing time, application of standards, and adjudications. Accordingly the current variance of practice, processing times, standards and adjudication among the 50 states and six regions (10 practical regions including the subregions of New York, San Francisco, Denver, and Kansas City) will gradually disappear and influence of human factors and idiosyncrecies will also be drastically reduced. This drastic change will be more noticeable in the PERM program in that the electronic system will play a much bigger role in this system than Backlog Reduction Center system in that the PERM application will introduce certain machine readable features in the form and machine will read and determine the eligibility of the application to a greater extent leaving the tasks of human analysts and certifying officers to de minimus. In the Backlog Reduction Center, it is likely that the two centers, Philadelphia and Dallas, will take over the cases on file at the state offices and regional offices and complete the whole labor certification for each individual application from the start to the finish. Accordingly, unlike the PERM program, the analysts and leaders of the each Reduction Center will play a bigger role in processing and adjudication.

:( Supposedly, the Backlog Reduction Centers are mandated to process and adjudicate the backlog applications under the current rules and standards. As everyone knows, the labor certification offices in states and regions run de facto 50 different rules, standards, and practices under the current system, producing the winners and losers among the immigrants depending on the location of the jobs. These 50 practices and policies run on a wide spectrum from the most conservative offices to the most liberal states. Obviously the current winners and losers will be profoundly affected by the directions and policies of the Backlog Reduction Centers depending on how liberal or conservice each Center will be. This is indeed a big open question. Reduction of backlog does not necessarily imply that it will come with increased rate of approval depending on their policies and directions. The processing times will be definitely reduced, but it is an unknown territory when it comes to the rate of denials. One just pray that the rate at least stays with the current trend.

:( As we reported earlier, the two Backlog Reduction Centers will be mostly manned by the contractors and the DOL has already selected the contractor to run these two centers. The sources indicate that each of these two centers in Philadelphia and Dallas will have approximately 60 analysts with the total manpower of from 80 to 100 people. As the state offices gradually phase out of the permanent labor cerification process, some of the analysts at the current state labor certification offices and regional offices may be absorbed into either the PERM Centers (Chicago and Atlanta) or these two Backlog Reduction Centers as the employees of the private contractors. Along the way, the two Backlog Reduction Centers will develop their own uniqueness and different directions and policies just like those which we are witnessing among the Service Centers in the USCIS. But two are better than five or 50 different idiosyncrecies.

:( The centralized labor certification systems grant a monstrous power to the Chief of Forein Labor Certification Division or National Certifying Officer at the DOL HQ. The nature of future directions and idiosyncrecies of the centralized processing centers for the PERM and Backlog Reduction Centers is expected to be molded into the new reengineered labor certification systems by the HQ in the forms of Directives and Memorandums. We just hope that the policies and directions be not molded into a restrictive and conservative shell leading to rise of the rate of denials. We also hope that most of 300,000 backlog cases be not only adjudicated swiftly but also liberally so that the 300,000 souls soon see the bright light at the end of tunnel in the near future.

Thank you all

orissa
 
Thanks orissa, for the article. Could you mention the source(s) too?

I dont know about others but frankly I'm happy because of the fact that things are moving at all.

1) First, they will work on Philly DOL cases
2) They will start working soon.

Given my admittedly low expectations from DOL/SWA, I dont have anything to complain at the moment.. so I dont know why everyone seems so glum and agitated. The only thing to do now is sit and wait.. and god knows we've good practice at that by now. :p

Lemme see in a month or two.. else we can get back to bitching abt DOL as usual . :p
 
So what does that mean

Yes,
Trust me I have read all these articles about backlog reduction and PERM. What does it all mean in short. Like if someone's case is in Phili DOL, say it was transferred to it from Virginia in November, December 2003, what does it mean, will he see his federal nod before this year is out.

rgds,
akela
 
You should be able to track your case once they receive it and put it into the system. Don't know how long it takes to enter it into the system. I was able to find my case by phone 1 month after received date.

kbhalla said:
Ok,.. so my case was sent to philly from VA on July 31st 2003 (RIR). They are currently processing July 2003 so they may not have got to my file.
I tried calling to automated system and punched in the 8 digit receipt number. The system says that it has no record of my app. My question is whether the system can read that number only when they open my file (when they hit july 31st) or when the receive the application (in which case something is obviously incorrect)? :confused:
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Call me cynical - all it means is that the elections are around the corner and the administration is trying to patch it's completely unthought out decision from 2001.

The real culprit has always been the April 2001 deadline increasing the number of applications. That law was passed without any thought to its consequences on workload or the allocation of resources required to handle such consequence.
Now with the elections around the corner the administration is keeping an eye out at the growing number of legal citizens from across the border who can swing at least the South Western state of California or some parts of it. Maybe even some parts of Florida.

The backlog reduction centers will also mean more funding for the states with the biggest backlogs. I suspect that may have caused some "laziness" on the part of the states. More money means more power.

It is also not unreasonable to assume that the lack of discouragement of such laziness would have festered a culture change among employees over the last couple of years which would have been difficult to change.

Also if you go back into the history of evolution of labor certifications - you will notice that RIR was first introduced by a preceding administration for the exact same purpose as the backlog reduction centers are now being introduced.
Same problem.
Different administration.
Different solution.

At the end of the day RIR did make things faster for a while. We can expect the same to happen with the backlog reduction centers. At least for sometime. Then just like RIR became victim to the administrations 2001 deadline, the backlog reduction centers will become victim to something new. Maybe even PERM.

So my fellow sufferers, there's really no promised gold at the end of the rainbow for some of us there maybe a rainbow and a promise now. But what happens when we get out of here, get into 140 / 485 queues only to find them bogged down by the same numbers that victimized us here. Moreover, there's the additional issue of a limited number of immigrant visa's per country at that stage....
It's clear to me - if you are just hellbent on immigrating to the most successful country on earth (economically at least) then you have suffer their largely inefficient AND intentional or unintentional enslaving immigration processes.

Maybe too much said already. :cool:
Just my opinion, mind you. :rolleyes:
 
stueym said:
Well I am October 2003 and have been able to access my case on AVM since Novenber 2003. What is the format of your 8 digit number. let us know the first four digits and then put 4 X's for example my number is 0339XXXX Yours should be a few thousand or so earlier than that. That said there is nothing more disappointing every time I call to hear "your case was received on xxxx" Which basically means they have done nothing to it since then :-)

Oh well maybe in the next few months salvation will arrive.

:-)
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stueym, thanks for your message. I'm not sure whether to be happy or disappointed by this message. My number is 0207XXXX. But now that I'm looking at it, should it be so different from yours (maybe coz its VA?)?

If you think hearing "your case was received on xxxx" sounds bad, try hearing "we have no record of that case number.

Also does anyone know if the same number passes from State to Fed or do you get a new number at the Fed level? I wonder (hope) if my lawyer got mixed up .?.
 
kbhalla - the regional and state numbers are different

kbhalla - the regional and state numbers are different
 
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