Entries by Cora-Ann Pestaina

BALCA ON THE HOME OFFICE OPTION

It’s time for another lesson, courtesy of BALCA (Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals).  In a November 2010 blog entitled PERM AND THE ROVING EMPLOYEE I discussed different types of roving employees and the existing BALCA or DOL (Department of Labor) guidance on how recruitment for these types of positions ought to be conducted. I […]

RESUME REVIEW IN THE PERM PROCESS

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Department of Labor (DOL) has a statutory responsibility to ensure that no foreign worker (or “alien”) is admitted for permanent residence based upon an offer of employment absent a finding that there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified and available for the work to […]

PERM Audits Request Sworn Declarations Regarding Improper Payments

Recently, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) published its factsheet with statistics on the PERM program for FY2012 covering the period from October 2011 to September 16, 2012. Of the 67,400 PERM applications received during that period, 45% were audited for review. While audit notifications discussing the employer’s use of […]

The H-1B Process Gets Even Harder: DOL Proposes Dramatic Changes to the LCA Form

I still think longingly of the days when certification of a Labor Condition Application (“LCA”) could be obtained within seconds. Three years ago, the Department of Labor (DOL) mandated that all LCA filings must be filed through its iCERT portal (http://icert.doleta.gov/) and that each application form, also changed to request additional, new information, would be […]

BALCA CLARIFIES DOL’S POSITION ON PROOF OF PUBLICATION OF THE SWA JOB ORDER AND ADS PLACED BY PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT FIRMS UNDER PERM

As usual, BALCA (Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals) decisions are very important for practitioners as they offer crucial insights into how to avoid some of the pitfalls in preparing and filing a labor certification application under Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) or into what arguments can be made in response to the unfortunate receipt […]

THE SUPERVISED RECRUITMENT ROLLER COASTER -THE RIDE THUS FAR

You filed a spotless labor certification. It was a perfect case, a perfect employer and a perfect employee with the perfect qualifications. Yet, one day, there it was in the mail. The dreaded Notification of Supervised Recruitment (“NSR”). The Department of Labor (“DOL”) had long advised to expect increased Supervised Recruitment. You knew the possibility […]

BALCA SAYS THERE IS NO NEED TO LIST EVERY BENEFIT OF EMPLOYMENT IN JOB ADVERTISEMENTS

by Cora-Ann V. Pestaina To practitioners who file numerous PERM applications, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) philosophy of solely protecting the U.S. labor market without regard to employers’ efforts, its constantly shifting goal posts, and its frightful game of “gotcha” which we involuntarily enter whenever we file a PERM application, have sadly all become par […]

PREVAILING WAGE DETERMINATIONS SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: HOW DO I FILE A PERM LABOR CERTIFICATION?

by Cora-Ann V. Pestaina The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) has temporarily suspended processing of prevailing wage determinations (PWD), redeterminations, and Center Director Reviews. The NPWC handles PWDs for the PERM labor certification, H-1B, H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore), H-2B and E-3 programs. As […]

NOT SO FAST! DOL HESITANT TO FOLLOW MATTER OF HORIZON COMPUTER SERVICES ON PREVAILING WAGE VALIDITY

By Cora-Ann Pestania My elation over the recent Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals’ (BALCA) decision in Matter of Horizon Computer Services, Inc., 2010-PER-00746 (May 25, 2011), expressed in my last blog, has proven to be short-lived. Last week, I attended the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association’s (AILA) Annual Conference on Immigration in San Diego, CA. […]