On February 9, 2009, the US Department of Labor held a “Public Briefing on Using the Redesigned Labor Certification Forms” in Baltimore, Maryland.

The purpose of the briefing was to educate stakeholders on the use of the redesigned ETA 9035 (LCA) and ETA 9089 (PERM). At the briefing, the DOL emphasized that the changes made to the forms are simply changes in the way data is collected; they do not constitute changes in policy.

The DOL announced that there will now be a new OFLC Visa portal know as iCERT System for both LCAs and PERM applications. On April 15, 2009, OFLC will begin receiving new LCA forms for processing through iCERT; on July 1 the same will be true for the new PERM form. In the case of both forms, there will be a 30 day transition period after the “go live” date; during this time employers can still file using the old system, and can get ready for the new system by creating new iCERT accounts and subaccounts and eliminating old T cases (in the case of PERM).

The biggest advantage of the new system is that it will permit users to track the status of applications across visa programs through a single visa account. It will also “pre-populate” certain aspects of the forms related to information on the particular employer and foreign national, thereby saving time.

Numerous changes were made to both forms. These changes can be reviewed in the attached material provided by the DOL at the briefing. Below is a list of a few highlights with respect to each form:

PERM Form

1) The space for the foreign worker’s name has now been moved to the top of the form. Completing this field will pre-populate other parts of the form.
2) Additional work location options have been added and there is “open space” to elaborate on the work location.
3) Space has been added so that the employer can explain the business necessity for a particular job requirement.

LCA Form

1) It will take up to 7 days to receive a response; LCAs will no longer be approved instantaneously. This change was made so that the DOL would be more likely to detect fraudulent submissions.