Maria Sacchetti, Washington Post, Dec. 8, 2023 "A federal judge in San Diego on Friday approved a settlement that prohibits U.S. officials from separating migrant families for crossing the U.S....
USCIS, Dec. 8, 2023 "The employment-based (EB) annual limit for fiscal year (FY) 2024 will be higher than was typical before the pandemic, though lower than in FY 2021-2023. We are dedicated to...
Elliot Spagat, Associated Press, Dec. 8, 2023 "A federal judge was poised Friday to prohibit separation of families at the border for purposes of deterring immigration for eight years, preemptively...
In an unpublished decision dated Dec. 4, 2023 a panel of the Ninth Circuit remanded for a new hearing. The facts are stunning...unless you practice immigration law: "Because Lead Petitioner credibly...
This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 12/07/2023 "The Department of State (“Department”) is amending its regulation governing immigrant visas by removing...
OFLC, Dec. 3, 2020
"On December 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order in Chamber of Commerce, et al. v. DHS, et al., No. 20-cv-7331, finding that the U.S. Department of Labor (the Department) failed to show it had good cause to forgo advance notice and comment under the Administrative Procedure Act for the Interim Final Rule (IFR), Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States, 85 FR 63872 (Oct. 8, 2020). The court’s order sets aside the IFR, which took effect on October 8, 2020 and implemented reforms to the prevailing wage methodology for the Permanent Employment Certification, H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 visa programs. Similarly, on December 3, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey issued a preliminary injunction in ITServe Alliance, Inc., et al. v. Scalia, et al., No. 20-cv-14604, applying to the plaintiffs in that case.
The Department is taking necessary steps to comply with the courts’ orders, including making required technical changes to the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system, in a manner that minimizes service disruptions for customers and OFLC staff. Specifically, the Department must make changes to the FLAG system modules to replace the 10/8/2020-6/30/2021 wage source year data that was implemented under the IFR with the OES prevailing wage data that was in effect on October 7, 2020. To reduce the risk of unintended system problems or errors while this occurs, employers and their authorized attorneys or agents may experience a brief delay in their ability to use the FLAG system to submit new Labor Condition Applications for Nonimmigrant Workers (LCAs), Form ETA-9035/9035E, and receive determinations on Applications for Prevailing Wage Determination, Form ETA-9141, where the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey data is the prevailing wage source.
Any employer desiring review of a PWD issued using the 10/8/2020-6/30/2021 wage source year data that was implemented under the IFR may make a request for review by the NPWC Director under 20 CFR 656.41 on or before January 4, 2021, and the Director will consider such request timely under 20 CFR 656.41(a).
Please use one of the following methods to submit a timely request for NPWC Director review:
Please access your Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) System account to request review of a prevailing wage determination issued by the NPWC Director. In the Historical Cases table, search for the case number, then open the case details. In the Actions tab, select Request Redetermination. You will be prompted to add a case note and may upload a document if needed. Upon submission, your request will be routed to an analyst for review. You will receive an email confirmation that your request submitted successfully.
In the email subject line, please include the phrase “IFR Request for Review” followed by the full case number on the Form ETA-9141.
Employment and Training AdministrationOffice of Foreign Labor CertificationNational Prevailing Wage Center200 Constitution Ave NWRoom N-5311Washington, DC 20210
Attn: IFR Request for Review
Please include either the full case number in the cover letter of the request for NPWC Director review or a hard copy of the Form ETA-9141 issued under the IFR methodology."