OFLC PERM Audit Plan Released

"Section 212(a)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act requires the Secretary to certify the admissibility of a foreign national for employment only when the Secretary can certify that the employment of that foreign worker will not adversely impact the wages and working conditions of US workers similarly employed, and that there is a job opportunity for which a US worker is unavailable.  As the regulated community knows, the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is responsible for maintaining the integrity and compliance of the primarily attestation-based PERM Program through the use of certain measures, including audit and supervised recruitment, under a broad integrity review authority.  At the time of PERM's implementation, the Department stated that OFLC would select certain applications for audit, employing "auditing techniques that can be adjusted as necessary to maintain program integrity", as well as for quality control.  69 Fed. Reg. 77326, 77328 (Dec. 27, 2004).  The Department noted at the time the need for changing audit criteria to focus integrity efforts on program abuse and adjust the audit mechanism as necessary as we gained program experience.  69 Fed. Reg. 77359.  Finally, the Department reserved the process of supervised recruitment for a broad application "in any case in which the C[ertifying] O[fficer] deems it appropriate" as a reasonable quality control mechanism.  69 Fed. Reg. 77360, 77362.

In response to a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, we are releasing and making available to all of the regulated community the following documentation regarding the areas in the PERM Program that have in the past warranted this closer examination.  Click here to view the OFLC Audit Plan.  These areas were deliberately chosen to ensure we are carrying out our statutory responsibilities while also recognizing the evolving nature of program integrity and quality control.

We hope the publication of this information assists filers, especially first-time filers, comply with the PERM Program's various requirements." - DOL, Jan. 31, 2014.