Labor Certification for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States; Backlog Reduction

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is issuing this interim final rule to address an existing backlog in pending applications for labor certification for the permanent employment of aliens in the United States. This amendment to the regulations governing labor certification applications for permanent employment will allow the National Certifying Officer to transfer to a centralized ETA processing center(s) applications now awaiting processing by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) or ETA Regional Offices. This interim final rule does not affect the pending proposal to streamline procedures for permanent labor certification under 20 CFR part 656, which was published in the Federal Register of May 6, 2002, and which is expected to be finalized in 2004. This interim final rule affects only applications filed under existing regulations, while the streamlined certification regulation will govern processing of new applications filed after that regulation takes effect.