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According to the Labor Department:

The employer is required to retain all supporting documentation for five years from the date of filing the Application for Permanent Employment Certification, ETA Form 9089.

According to the Labor Department:

Beyond the standard "no greater than 180 days and no less than 30 days prior to filing" there are no further timeframe requirements. The only sequencing requirement is that the two Sunday advertisements must be placed on two different Sundays which may be consecutive.

NOTE: There is one exception to the standard 30 – 180 days prior to filing timeframe: One of the additional steps required for recruitment for professional occupations may be conducted within 30 days prior to filing. However, no steps may have taken place more than 180 days prior to filing.

If the employer's job opportunity is for an occupation which is subject to a wage determination under the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) or the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), must the employer use the DBA or SCA?

According to the Labor Department:

No, the employer is not required to use a wage determination under the DBA or the SCA but may choose to do so.

Is the employer required to provide notice of filing if an application is filed on behalf of a college and/or university teacher selected in the competitive selection and recruitment?

According to the Labor Department:

Yes, the employer must provide a notice of filing which must include the advertisement information in § 656.18(b)(3), i.e., the job title, duties, and requirements as well as the information specified in § 656.10(d)(3).

According to the Labor Department:

If a labor certification is denied or revoked, the employer may make a request for review to the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) by submitting, in writing and within 30 days of the date of the determination, a request to the Certifying Officer who denied or revoked the application.

According to the Labor Department:

If the employer normally recruits for similar positions in the employer's organization through in-house media, then the employer must publish the notice of filing in its in-house media in accordance with the employer's normal procedures for recruitment of similar positions or for 10 consecutive business days, whichever is of longer duration.

According to the Labor Department:

The employer must categorize the lawful job-related reasons for rejection of U.S. applicants and provide the number of U.S. applicants rejected in each category. The recruitment report does not have to identify the individual U.S. workers who applied for the job opportunity.

NOTE: The Certifying Officer, after reviewing the employer’s recruitment report, may request the U.S. workers' resumes or applications, sorted by the lawful job related reasons the workers were rejected.

According to the Labor Department:

The employer must file, as part of its labor certification application, documentation the alien meets one of three requirements: the alien has a Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) Certificate, the alien has passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX—RN) exam, or the alien holds a full and unrestricted (permanent) license to practice nursing in the state of intended employment.

NOTE: Unlike the filing requirements under other PERM provisions, for Schedule A occupations, the employer is required to submit the applicable documentation when the employer files the application with the appropriate Department of Homeland Security office.

According to the Labor Department:

There are several possible reasons an employer or their attorney might not have heard anything from the BEC about the case. Some examples include, but are not limited to: 1) the State or Regional office may have disposed of the case prior to shipping and the applicant did not receive notification; 2) The State or Regional office may have inadvertently not shipped the case to the BEC; 3) the BEC may have attempted to contact the applicant but the contact information was incorrect; or 4) the BEC inadvertently omitted the case during data entry.

According to the Labor Department:

No, only an employee or owner of the employer entity may register to use the Permanent On-line System because employers must make the attestations required for the permanent application process and a PIN will only be assigned to an employer. The registration must be submitted by an individual with actual hiring authority for the employer. The individual listed under the "Employer Contact Information" section of the registration page must be the individual with actual hiring authority for the employer and cannot be the attorney or agent. During the registration process, the employer may create sub-accounts for attorneys or agents. We will cancel or deny registrations submitted by non-employers. Submission of a permanent labor certification application using a PIN assigned to a non-employer will be grounds for denial or revocation of a permanent labor certification.

NOTE: To withdraw or delete a registration account (as in a situation where the original registration was set up showing an attorney or representative as the "user" and/or where the contact person for the employer is not a person with actual hiring authority), please e-mail PLC.HELP@dol.gov, provide the user name and password, and request the account be deleted. At that point, the person with actual hiring authority can re-register with the correct information.

According to the Labor Department:

Yes, as long as provisions regarding the validity period are followed, the employer is permitted to use the same prevailing wage determination if the prevailing wage is for the same occupation and skill level; the same wage source is applicable; and the same area of intended employment is involved.

Must the notice of filing contain the rate of pay for an application filed on behalf of a college or university teacher selected in a competitive selection and recruitment process?

According to the Labor Department:

No, a rate of pay does not need to be included in a notice of filing for an application filed on behalf of a college or university teacher selected in a competitive selection and recruitment process.

Is there a date by which an employer's original application must have been filed in order to be eligible for conversion from TR to RIR?

According to the Labor Department:

Yes, applications must have been postmarked on or before March 28, 2005. This is an extension from the prior deadline and essentially includes all open TR cases in the backlog for which a job order has not been initiated.

As of October 27, 2006, the Labor Department (DOL) is still accepting conversions of traditional Labor Certification cases (non-PERM) to Reduction in Recruitment (RIR), PROVIDED that the job order has NOT yet been placed for the traditional case. If an RIR conversion is received by DOL with a postmark or express courier shipping date that is prior the date DOL places the job order, DOL will accpet the RIR conversion and cancel the job order.

Of course, petitioners may wish to consider converting the case to PERM instead.

I have multiple positions available for the same occupation and job classifications and at the same rate of pay. May I post a Notice of Filing for the same occupation and job classifications with a single posting?

According to the Labor Department:

Yes, an employer can satisfy Notice of Filing requirements with respect to several positions in each of these job classifications with a single Notice of Filing posting, as long as the single posting complies with the Department of Labor's regulation for each application (e.g. contains the appropriate prevailing wage information and the Notice of Filing must be posted for 10 consecutive business days during the 30 to 180 day time window prior to filing the application). For instance, separate notices would have to be posted for an attending nurse and a supervisory nurse (e.g. nurses containing different job duties).

NOTE: At the time of filing the labor certification, the prevailing wage information must not have changed, the job opportunity must remain the same and all other Department of Labor regulatory requirements must be followed.

For purposes of determining whether the alien gained experience with the employer, would an affiliate abroad or an acquiring company be considered an employer?

According to the Labor Department:

For purposes of determining whether the alien gained experience with the employer, an employer is "an entity with the same Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN), provided it meets the definition of an employer at § 656.3."

What are the procedures to be followed in filing applications on behalf of aliens of exceptional ability in the performing arts formerly processed under the special handling procedures in the former regulations?

According to the Labor Department:

Aliens of exceptional ability in the performing arts are now included in § 656.5, Schedule A, under Group II. Accordingly, such applications must be filed in duplicate with the appropriate office of the Department of Homeland Security. The documentation that must be filed in support of such applications is listed in § 656.15, Applications for labor certification for Schedule A occupations.

When must the advertisement for the job opportunity be placed in the national professional journal under the optional special recruitment provision?

According to the Labor Department:

The national professional journal advertisement for the job opportunity as required under the optional special recruitment provision must have been placed during the recruitment period prior to the selection of alien.

According to the Labor Department:

No, under existing regulations, Schedule B applications are not eligible for the RIR process.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted, or will soon post, a sample of a Notice of Filing for a Schedule A permanent labor certification on their website. Will the Department of Labor accept/honor such a posting as sufficient proof of the Notice of Filing for a non-Schedule A permanent labor certification?

According to the Labor Department:

Yes, an employer may use the posting sample of a Notice of Filing issued by the USCIS and such a posting will be honored by the Department of Labor (DOL) provided that the Notice of Filing complies with all Department of Labor regulatory requirements. DOL worked with USCIS to develop the sample posting as a customer service convenience. DOL will honor the use of the sample, but is not requiring use of the sample. Employers may use other forms as long as they comply with the regulations.