Regulatory History of the Permanent Alien Labor Certification Regulations

Last revised March 2, 2009

In addition to amendments to the H-2B Worker program, this rulemaking made technical changes to PERM regulations relating to prevailing wage determinations.

  • Prohibits the substitution of alien beneficiaries on permanent labor certification applications and resulting certifications.
  • Provides a 180-day validity period for approved labor certifications (i.e., a 180 calendar days window within which to file a Form I-140).
  • Prohibits the sale, barter or purchase of permanent labor certifications and applications.
  • Requires employers to pay the costs of preparing, filing and obtaining certification.
  • Prohibits an employer's transfer to the alien beneficiary of the employer's costs incurred in the labor certification or application process.
  • Clarifies that an alien may pay his or her own legitimate costs in the permanent labor certification process, including attorneys' fees for representation of the alien.
  • Reinforces existing law pertaining to the submission of fraudulent or false information and clarifies current DOL procedures for responding to incidents of possible fraud.
  • Establishes procedures for debarment from the permanent labor certification program.
  • Clarifies the "no modifications" policy for PERM applications.

 

Extends the eligibility date the Department of Labor (Department) uses for determining whether RIR reapplication requests are timely for pre-PERM applications.

 

Amendments of existing regulations to update obsolete non-substantive or nomenclature references. Among other technical changes, updates the regulations to reflect the change of the name of the "Division of Foreign Labor Certification"; to the "Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC)."

 

Proposal to (1) eliminate practice of allowing substition of alien beneficiaries on approved applications; (2) provide for a limit of 45-days for employers to file approved certification with DHS, USCIS; (3) expressly prohibit the sale, barter or purchase of labor certifications; (4) highlight existing law pertaining to the submission of fraudulent or false information.

 

Interim procedures for the management of mail and postposement of certain regulatory and procedural deadlines pertaining to applications affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.

 

Reassignment of all functions of the ETA Regional Administrators and the Director of the United States Employment Service under 20 CFR parts 655 and 656 (in effect through arch 27, 2005) to the Chief, Division of Foreign Labor Certification.

 

Notice that all foreign labor certification processing activities previously conducted in the Atlanta and Chicago Regional Offices will now be assumed by the corresponding Atlanta or Chicago National Processing Centers.

 

Notice of public briefings in early 2005 in Chicago, Atlanta, Costa Mesa (California) and Washington, DC to educate the public on using the new permanent foreign labor certification system.

 

Final rule changing the labor certification regulations to streamline processing and ensure the most expeditious processing of cases using the resources available. The new rule deletes the prior rule at 20 CFR Part 656, and replaces it in its entirety. The new regulatory text applies to all applications filed on or after March 28, 2005. Applications filed before that date continue to be processed and governed by the prior regulation, except where an employer withdraws the existing application and refiles it in accordance with the terms of the new rule.

 

Notice that all foreign labor certification processing activities previously conducted in the Dallas or Philadelphia Regional Offices will now be assumed by the corresponding Dallas or Philadelphia Backlog Processing Center.

 

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 allowed the National Certifying Officer to transfer to a centralized ETA processing center(s) applications awaiting processing by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) or ETA Regional Offices.

 

Proposal to amend the regulations governing the filing and processing of labor certification applications for the permanent employment of aliens in the United States to implement a new system for filing and processing such applications.

 

Final rule which permitted employers to request, in certain circumstances, that any permanent alien abor certification application that was filed on or before August 3, 2001 be processed as a reduction in recruitment request.

 

Notice of general principles which were to guide the development of proposed regulations to effectuate a redesign of the permanent alien labor certification program.

 

Proposed amendments to permit employers to request that any labor certification application for permanent employment filed on or before July 26, 2000, and which had not been sent to the regional certifying officer, be processed as a reduction in recruitment request, provided recruitment had not been conducted pursuant to the permanent labor certification regulations.

 

ETA published for public comment General Administrative Letter (GAL) No. 1-97, Change 1, Subject: Measures for Increasing Efficiency in the Permanent Labor Certification Process, which it issued as a result of the settlement agreement reached in Lauretta V. Herman (No. 98-56061, (9th Cir. March 5, 1999)). GAL 1-97 was originally issued on October 1, 1996. GAL 1-97, Change 1, differed from the October 1, 1996, issuance primarily in that the efficiency measure of having unduly restrictive job requirements adjudicated prior to allowing advertisements to be published was removed.

 

Final rule changing the way prevailing wage determinations are made for researchers employed by colleges and universities. This regulatory change was made in response to the BALCA decision in Hathaway Children's Services , 1991-INA-388 (Feb. 4, 1994), in which the Board had held that the regulations required SESAs to survey all employers, without regard to the nature of the employer, in the area of intended employment in determining prevailing wages for an occupation. DOL determined that an exception to this rule should be made for prevailing wage determinations for researchers employed by universities.

 

Technical correction to Proposed Rule.

 

Proposed amendment to change the way prevailing wage determinations are made for researchers employed by colleges and universities.

 

Bureau of Labor Statistics request for comments on a proposed revision of the "Report on Occupational Employment." The proposed revision was in response to a request for a proposed collection of OES wage data in each State as a means of creating a consistently-developed national wage data base and for use in the Alien Labor Certification process.

 

Notice publishing a questionnaire to aid in the solicitation of comments relating to proposed reengineering of the alien labor certification programs.

 

Final rule removing graduates of foreign medical schools from the Schedule A precertification list.

 

Technical correction.

 

Amendments to Part 656 to clarify apparent ambiguities, make the regulations easier to read, and to reflect ETA's experience in administering the regulations since their promuglation in 1977.

 

Proposed amendments to Part 656 to clarify apparent ambiguities, make the regulations easier to read, and to reflect ETA's experience in administering the regulations since their promuglation in 1977.

 

Final Rule implementing new permanent alien labor certification regulations at 20 C.F.R. Part 656. 29 C.F.R. Part 60 is rescinded.

 

Proposed rule implementing new 20 C.F.R. Part 656. 29 C.F.R. Part 60 is proposed to be rescinded.

 

 

  • ETA, Final Rule , Labor Certification Process and Enforcement for Temporary Employment in Occupations Other Than Agriculture or Registered Nursing in the United States (H-2B Workers), and Other Technical Changes, 73 Fed. Reg. 78020 (Dec. 19, 2008) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Final Rule , Labor Certification for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States; Reducing the Incentives and Opportunities for Fraud and Abuse and Enhancing Program Integrity, 72 Fed. Reg. 27903 (May 17, 2007) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Notice , Foreign Labor Certification; Reduction-in-Recruitment (RIR) Conversion; Extension of the RIR Eligibility Date, 71 Fed. Reg. 59336 (Oct. 6, 2006) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Final Rule, Technical Amendments , Department of Labor Regulatory Review and Update, 71 Fed. Reg. 35511 (June 21, 2006) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Proposed Rule, Reducing the Incentives and Opportunities for Fraud and Abuse and Enhancing Program Integrity , Permanent Labor Certification Program, 71 Fed. Reg. 7655 (Feb. 13, 2006) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Notice of Training and Employment Guidance Letter (re Hurricanes) , Permanent Labor Certification Program, 70 Fed. Reg. 73035 (Dec. 8, 2005) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Information Regarding the Transfer of Temporary Program Cases to the Atlanta and Chicago National Processing Centers , 70 Fed. Reg. 41430 (July 19, 2005) HTML | PDF

    Although this notice was primarily about jurisdiction in regard to the temporary programs, it also contained information about jurisdiction in regard to the PERM program.

     

  • ETA, Notice, Reassignment and Delegation of Functions from RAs and Director, USES to Chief, DFLC , 20 CFR Parts 655 and 656, 70 Fed. Reg. 39385 (July 7, 2005) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Announcement of the Mailing Addresses for Applications Not Filed Electronically Under the New Permanent Foreign Labor Certification (PERM) Program , 70 Fed. Reg. 6734 (Feb. 8, 2005) HTML | PDF

    Notice of mailing addresses for employers that choose to file PERM applications by mail; two new National Processing Centers for PERM: Atlanta and Chicago.

     

  • ETA, Notice, Relocation of Foreign Labor Certification Staff to National Processing Centers , 70 Fed. Reg. 1473 (Jan. 7, 2005) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Notice, Announcement of Public Briefings on PERM System , 70 Fed. Reg. 923 (Jan. 5, 2005) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Final Rule, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States ["PERM"] , 20 CFR Part 656, 69 Fed. Reg. 77326 (Dec. 27, 2004) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Notice, Relocation of Foreign Labor Certification Staff to Backlog Centers , 69 Fed. Reg. 69412 (Nov. 29, 2004) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Interim Final Rule, Backlog Reduction, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 69 Fed. Reg. 43716 (July 21, 2004) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Proposed Rule, Implementation of New System, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States ["PERM"] , 20 CFR Part 656, 67 Fed. Reg. 30466 (May 6, 2002) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Final Rule, Refiling of Applications, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 66 Fed. Reg. 40584 (Aug. 3, 2001) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Notice of Guidelines, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 65 Fed. Reg. 51777 (Aug. 25, 2000) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Refling of Applications, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 65 Fed. Reg. 46082 (July 26, 2000) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Notice, Measures for Increasing Efficiency in the Permanent Labor Certification Program , 64 Fed. Reg. 23984 (May 4, 1999) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Final Rule, Researchers Employed by Colleges, etc, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 63 Fed. Reg. 13756 (Mar. 20, 1998) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Correction to Proposed Rule, Researchers Employed by Colleges, etc, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 61 Fed. Reg. 18650 (Apr. 26, 1996) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Proposed Rule, Researchers Employed by Colleges, etc, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 61 Fed. Reg. 17610 (Apr. 22, 1996) HTML | PDF
  • BLS, Notice, Request for Comments, Proposed Collection (re OES Survey) , 61 Fed. Reg. 15310 (Apr. 5, 1996) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Notice and request for comments, Reengineering of Permanent Labor Certification Program , 60 Fed. Reg. 36440 (July 17, 1995) HTML | PDF
  • ETA, Final Rule, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States, Removal of Physicians From Schedule A , 52 Fed. Reg. 20593 (June 2, 1987) PDF (Image-Only PDF)
  • ETA, Correction to Final Rule, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 20 CFR Part 656, 46 Fed. Reg. 3830 (Jan. 16, 1981) PDF (Image Only PDF)
  • ETA, Final Rule, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 45 Fed. Reg. 83926 (Dec. 19, 1980) PDF (Image Only PDF)
  • ETA, Proposed Rule, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 45 Fed. Reg. 4918 (Jan. 22, 1980) PDF (Image Only PDF)
  • ETA, Final Rule, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 42 Fed. Reg. 3440 (Jan. 18, 1977) PDF (Image Only PDF)
  • ETA, Proposed Rule, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 20 CFR Part 656, 41 Fed. Reg. 48938 (Nov. 5, 1976) PDF (Image Only PDF)
  • Final Rule, Labor Certification Process for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States , 29 CFR Part 60, 30 Fed. Reg. 14979 (Dec. 3, 1965) PDF (Image Only PDF)