Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States; Refiling of Applications

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is amending its regulations relating to the permanent employment of aliens in the United States. This final rule permits employers to request, in certain circumstances, that any labor certification application for permanent employment in the United States that is filed on or before August 3, 2001, be processed as a reduction in recruitment request. ETA anticipates that the amendment will reduce the backlog of labor certification applications for permanent employment in State Employment Security Agencies (SESA's). ETA believes this measure to reduce backlogs will result in a variety of desirable benefits, such as a reduction in processing time for both new applications and those applications currently in the queue, and will facilitate the development and implementation of a new, more efficient, system for processing labor certification applications for permanent employment in the United States.