RIR Conversion Update
Posted Mar 30, 2007
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As regular readers of MurthyDotCom and the MurthyBulletin may recall, April 1, 2007 is the deadline to submit all "hold harmless" RIR conversion documents. Applications must be postmarked on or before this date. This is a process that applies to labor certification cases pending at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Backlog Processing Centers (BPCs). It is a procedure for converting traditional (TR) labor certifications to Reduction in Recruitment (RIR) at the BPCs. Those who took advantage of this opportunity likely will have completed all steps by the time this article is published. There is a limited group, however, who received an extension until April 13, 2007, due to DOL delays in transmitting the necessary prevailing wage determination.
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Basic Procedure
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The procedure and rationale behind the TR-to-RIR conversion process was outlined in our December 15, 2006 MurthyBulletin article, DOL Facilitates RIR Conversion of Regular LC Cases, available on MurthyDotCom. Under the procedures known as the hold-harmless method of conversion, an employer could have eMailed the DOL by January 22, 2007 of their intent to proceed with requesting conversion by April 1, 2007. In exchange, DOL would not issue ad instructions, which would have made the case ineligible for conversion. The DOL would also acknowledge receipt of the hold-harmless eMail and provide the prevailing wage determination for the case, without which the case could not move forward.
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Prevailing Wage eMail Delays
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The DOL announced on March 16, 2006 that they had replied to all hold-harmless eMails with prevailing wage determination eMails. Many American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) members, however, expressed concerns over not having received the prevailing wage response eMail. To address these concerns, the DOL requested a list of such cases and provided a system for communicating with them about the problem.
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Extension Granted for Some until April 13, 2007
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Employers and attorneys who received the prevailing wage eMail between the 1st and 16th of March 2007 were granted an extension until April 13, 2007 for submitting RIR Conversion documents to the DOL. The extended deadline also applies to cases in which the prevailing wage determination was challenged. The extension is intended to address cases for which the receipt of the prevailing wage eMail was so close to the April 1st deadline that employers and attorneys did not have sufficient time to prepare the necessary RIR conversion documents. There has not been, as of this writing, an announcement regarding any extensions for cases for which the prevailing wage eMail was not issued by March 16, 2007.
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Conclusion
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This DOL procedure is intended to facilitate action on the long-pending BPC labor certifications. The conversion procedure was utilized by the Murthy Law Firm in many eligible cases where our clients requested the conversion after notification of that option. The net result in terms of assisting the DOL to reach its goal of completing all BPC cases by September 2007 remains to be seen.