The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) provides Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) as a resource to help employers and other stakeholders better understand the programs OFLC administers. FAQs are intended to facilitate transparency and understanding of the Department’s regulations and policies, as applied to employer applications and other requests.
• View additional information on the Departments regulations and policies.
These FAQs provide additional guidance on topics including procedures, processing, requirements, and obligations for the permanent labor certification program; the temporary labor certification programs (e.g., H-2A, H-2B, and CW-1); labor condition applications (LCA) for the temporary H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 programs; and prevailing wage determination (PWD) requests. Generally, OFLC posts a series of FAQs together to clarify a particular topic; OFLC refers to such topical grouping of FAQs as a “round” of FAQs. Links to .pdfs for posted rounds appear below. In addition, OFLC provides a searchable database of FAQs.
• Visit OFLC’s searchable database of FAQs.
Download 2023 AEWR Final Rule FAQs (PDF)
Download H-2A 2022 Final Rule FAQs (PDF)
- Round 6: H-2A Labor Contractors
- Round 5: Joint Employers
- Round 4: H-2A Application Filing and Processing
- Round 3: Job Offers, Assurances, and Obligations – Wages
- Prevailing Wage Surveys
- Round 2: Job Order Filing and Processing
- Round 1: Implementation
Download H-2A 2010 Final Rule FAQs (PDF)
- Round 15: Farm Labor Contractor Requirements for Certificates of Registration
- Round 14: Definition of Agricultural Labor or Services
- Round 13: Newspaper Advertisements in the Area of Intended Employment
- Round 12: Housing: Use of Rental Housing or Public Accommodations
- Round 11: Appendix A: 2016 Update
- Round 10: Post-certification: Corporate Restructuring and Successor in Interest
- Round 9: Job Offers, Assurances, Obligations: Productivity Standards
- Round 8: Special Procedures, Pre-Filing, Filing, Positive Recruitment and Hiring of U.S. Workers
- Round 7: Filing the 9142, Post-Certification
- Round 6: H-2A Labor Contractors, Positive Recruitment, Post-Certification
- Round 5: Wages, Job Offers and Assurances, Post-Certification
- Round 4: Job Offers, Assurances and Obligations
- Clarification of the Fifty Percent Rule
- Round 3: Filing 790, 9142, H-2A FLCs
- Round 2: Pre-Filing Steps
- Round 1: General Discussion of Final Rule
- PERM faq set Round 14
- PERM faq set Round 13
- PERM faq set Round 12
- PERM faq set Round 11
- PERM faq set Round 10
- PERM faq set Round 9
- PERM faq set Round 8
- PERM faq set Round 7
- PERM faq set Round 6
- PERM faq set Round 5
- PERM faq set Round 4
- PERM faq set Round 3
- PERM faq set Round 2
- PERM Fraud Rule FAQs
- PERM Supervised Recruitment FAQs
- PERM Appeals Best Practices FAQs
- PERM Change of Address/Representation Update FAQs
Download H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 FAQs (PDF)
- H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 Round 4 FAQs
- H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 Round 3 FAQs
- H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 Round 2 FAQs
- H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 Round 1 FAQs
Download H-2B FAQs (PDF)
- Round 17: "Worksites" and "Area of Intended Employment" in the H-2B Program
- Round 16: Foreign Labor Recruiter List
- Round 15: Obligations and Job Order Content for Employers of a Mobile Workforce
- Round 14: Corresponding Employment Under the 2016 DOL Appropriations Act
- Round 13: Job Order and Application Filing and Processing: Prevailing Wage Determinations and Emergency Procedures
- Round 12: Job Order and Application Filing and Processing: Emergency Procedures and Post-Certification Amendments
- Round 11: Job Order Content, Amendments, and Recruitment
- Round 10: Integrity Measures
- Round 9: Staggered Crossing of H-2B Nonimmigrants Working in the Seafood Industry
- Round 8: Appeal Procedures
- Round 7: Recruitment Procedures and the Recruitment Report
- Round 6: Clarification of Handling Special Procedure Occupations under the 2015 H-2B IFR
- Round 5: Job Offers and Employer Obligations
- Round 4: Job Order and Application Filing and Processing, including Emergency Procedures
- Round 3: Electronic Filing under the 2015 H-2B Interim Final Rule
- Round 2: Transition Procedures
- Round 1: Implementation, Major Changes (2008 Final Rule v. IFR)
Download CW-1 FAQs (PDF)
Download National Prevailing Wage and Help Desk Center (NPWHC) FAQs