Still No Set Deadline for Elimination of Labor Substitutions
Posted Apr 06, 2007
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Contrary to recent rumor in the immigration community there has not been any official public notice stating when, or even IF labor certification (LC) substitution will end. It is not clear if they will end in the immediate future - much less that they will end on April 15, 2007, as the rumors have indicated.
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April 15, 2007 is Not a Deadline for Substitution Cases
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As regular MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers will recall from our recent articles, Labor Substitutions : Still Possible in February 2007 (February 9, 2007) and NewsFlash! LC Substitution Termination Regulation Moves to OMB (February 2, 2007), the regulation proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which would eliminate LC substitutions and limit the validity of LCs, was sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review. The OMB has 90 days to review the proposed regulation. Because the 90 days will expire on or about April 15th, many have assumed that the regulation will go into effect after 90 days. In fact, the process does not end with OMB review.
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More Steps after OMB Review
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Once the OMB completes its review, it will have to return the reviewed regulation to the DOL for any changes noted by the OMB. After that is complete, the final regulation will be published in the Federal Register. At that point, the regulation could become effective immediately or after a specified period of time. In such a circumstance a regulation can be changed, sometimes substantially, from its initial proposed form.
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Wait and Watch for Updates on MurthyDotCom
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We at the Murthy Law Firm continue to monitor the LC substitution process and will report to our readers if and when the new regulation is published in the Federal Register. There are times when the final regulation is accessible immediately prior to its filing. Meanwhile, we continue to process LC substitution requests as quickly as possible, without a guarantee that they can be filed before the regulation is implemented. Moreover, only once the regulation is issued will it be clear what is prohibited and what affect, if any, the regulation will have on pending substitution cases.