Department of Labor Backlog Elimination Center Update

As we have reported previously, all Applications for Permanent Labor Certification (Reduction in Recruitment (RIR) and Traditional cases) filed with a State Workforce Agency prior to March 28, 2005 are currently being processed by a Backlog Elimination Center (BEC) in Dallas or Philadelphia.

Processing Update

The BECs received approximately 345,000 cases from across the country and are in the process of adjudicating all pending cases. In early July 2006, the BECs announced they had issued Center Receipt Notification Letters (CRNL) for all pending cases and would now focus on adjudication of cases. The BECs have said they are processing cases on a "First In First Out" (FIFO) basis; however, our experience is that some later filed cases are being processed before cases filed earlier. We have received approval of RIR cases filed in March 2005, while cases filed in 2004 remain pending. Processing of Traditional cases remains slower, but we have seen some movement on these cases. Recruitment instructions for Traditional cases have been very similar to the instructions received when the cases were managed by the State Workforce Agencies.

The Department of Labor ("DOL") has indicated there are several factors that will account for different processing of cases with the same priority date. These factors include:

• Type of application (RIR vs. Traditional);
• The stage of processing at which the application was received by the BEC (applications received from the regions have recruitment completed, and so are further along than those received from the states);
• The dates of other applications pending at each center (which determines each application's place within the FIFO queue);
• The quality of the application (applications that raise questions take longer) and
• The response time of the employer to center requests for confirmation to continue processing the application. (Source: AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 05110360 (posted Nov. 3, 2005).

The BEC still expects processing to be complete by September 2007.

Public Disclosure System

In September 2006, the DOL released the Public Disclosure System which allows employers, attorneys and applicants to check case status online. By entering a case number, individuals can receive case status information for cases received by the BEC. The Public Disclosure System can be found on the DOL website.