Avoid Status Checks on Labor Certifications
Posted Jul 12, 2002

Companies, beneficiaries, and attorneys need to be considerate of Department of Labor office staff workloads by only calling to inquire about the status of LC or RIR cases when they have a file with a problem or unusual delay. One way to tell whether a delay is unusual is to check the processing time information in the specific location to see on which cases work is currently being done. For example, we received a recent update from the Maryland State Workforce Agency (SWA) indicating that they are currently processing RIR applications received on April 24, 2001.

Excessive numbers of status calls have created such a problem at the SWAs that many of them have, in fact, specifically asked that people not request status of cases filed later than the processing dates given. Sufficient resources for responding to the high volume of inquiries simply are not available. We know that this is a problem in many states since there is just one small group of people to handle both the inquiries and the cases. Besides Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and California also have specifically requested that no status calls be made to interrupt their work on LC or RIR cases.

We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy thought it may be helpful to point out an important difference between the INS and state agencies that process labor certification applications (known as "state workforce agencies" or SWAs). At INS Service Centers and local District Offices, there are Immigration Information Officers on hand to answer status inquiries and a separate group of folks, usually called Adjudications Officers or Examiners, who process the cases. One can inquire about a case without that inquiry interrupting the work being done on the case.

In contrast, the overworked staff who process labor certification (LC) applications are responsible for fielding inquiries as well as processing cases, both at the local and regional U.S. Department of Labor offices. In order to get through a substantial backlog of applications, it is critically important to devote as much time as possible to case processing by minimizing interruptions.

At MurthyDotCom we provide an official U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) processing chart that has approximate processing dates for all states and regions. So, for example if the case is in Minnesota, you can look for Minnesota on the chart and see that the SWA there is currently processing cases filed in February 2002. Ultimately, there is a great benefit to all applicants if the SWA can work on their cases without having to stop and answer calls that will result in further delays.