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On October 1, 1996, Barbara Farmer, the Administrator for Regional
Management of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), issued a memorandum, often
referred to as GAL 1-97, advising all state Department of Labor offices (SESAs)
and the regional Certifying Officers of the DOL to streamline the processing
of labor certifications. Although this memo was put on hold for three weeks,
the effective date was October 22, 1996.
Even prior to this Memo, certain regions, have encouraged
Reductions of Recruitment (RIRs) for certain jobs and also processed on a
limited review basis those cases where there were few or no respondents to
the advertisement. However, there was a reluctance on the part of most SESAs
and Regional Certifying Offices to process RIRs or limited review processing
prior to this Memo.
This process considerably shortens the time to
receive an approval of the labor certification in most parts of the U.S.
The reason for the Memo was that the government budgetary cuts required that
the DOLs process a growing number of cases with shrinking funds and
personnel. The Memorandum, therefore, attempted to streamline the processing of labor
certifications nationwide.
The Memo strongly encouraged the processing of Reductions of Recruitment (RIRs)
by all SESA offices in an attempt to re-engineer the labor certification
process.
To summarize, the Memo advised that as long as the employer can show that it
has attempted to recruit U.S. workers by showing copies of the
advertisements and other commonly used methods for recruitment and there are
no unduly restrictive requirements in the labor certification application,
the application should be processed in the RIR category. The number of
advertisements required can vary depending upon the type of job.
If there are unduly restrictive requirements, such requirement should be
deleted. In addition, the "business necessity" justification for any such job
duties or special requirements should address the job opportunity as it
existed prior to the hiring of the foreign worker or the employer is
required to document that a major change in its business operation caused
the position to be created after the hiring of the foreign worker.
All SESAs should encourage Reduction in Recruitment requests in applications
for occupations for which there is little or no availability of U.S. workers
and where there are no restrictive requirements, and for which the employer
can show adequate recruitment through sources normal to the occupation and
industry within the previous six months, as long as the employer meets the
prevailing wage.
RIR requests are processed on a relatively expedited basis by the SESAs and the
DOL Regional Offices.
If a Notice of Findings (NOF) is issued by the certifying officer, only one
extension of time beyond the initial thirty-five (35) days can be provided.
Further extensions will not be granted by the Department of Labor.
The Memo also points out that if there is a harmless error by the employer,
that fact may be taken into account by the certifying officer on a
case-by-case basis.
If a certifying officer requires the employer, through a NOF, to recruit
again because of certain deficiencies in the initial recruitment, the
employer is only obligated to place a one-day Sunday advertisement in an
appropriate newspaper of general circulation in that area. However, there
will be a ten-day job order placed by the SESA at the same time.
If the SESA determines that there are deficiencies in the labor
certification application, it is the obligation of the SESA to so advise the
employer and mention the fact that it is unlikely that the certifying
officer will approve the RIR request and that the employer should attempt to
recruit through the regular process. By law, however, the SESA cannot
discourage the use of RIRs nor refuse to transmit a written request for an
RIR to the certifying officer.
The commonly used factors that are supposed to be taken into consideration
in determining whether an RIR can be approved are the following.
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Adequacy of the recruitment conducted by the employer, for example,
newspaper advertising, job fairs, internet, etc.
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Normal recruitment practices in the industry and occupation as furnished
by documents by the employer.
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Availability of U.S. workers in a particular occupation as determined by
the SESA and by job referrals to job orders.
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The U.S. DOL Certifying Officer's knowledge of the local labor market.
If an RIR is denied because the recruitment is not acceptable, the
application is to be returned to the SESA for regular processing in the
order in which it is received along with other applications.
Limited Review Processing
In addition to the RIR, limited review processing is to be encouraged by
SESAs. Such an expedited determination can be made under certain
circumstances as set forth below.
These circumstances include cases where the job offer meets the prevailing
wage and there are no special requirements or special job duties which
exceed the SVP (Specific Vocational Preparation), as set forth by the DOL
assigned to the job. These SVPs are outlined in DOL’s Dictionary of
Occupational Titles.
In addition, there should only be a few applicants who respond to the
advertisement or the job order.
The Department of Labor has taken the position that if an application meets
the limited review criteria, it will be processed on an expedited basis for
approval. However, some applications could be randomly selected for review
for quality control purposes and for SESA training purposes.
The tremendous advantage of the RIR processing is that labor certifications
which were taking 2 or 3 years or even longer in some jurisdictions are now being processed on
a relatively expedited basis. The one downfall for nationals of India and China is that
most companies that regularly advertise, for example for software positions,
do not often require a Master's Degree for the job duties and this will
result in the labor certification being approved expeditiously but delay
processing of the green card because of the backlog in visa numbers in the
Employment based third preference category for Indian and Chinese nationals.
Permanent Processing
A new and even more expedited processing is envisioned by the DOL, referred
to as PERM processing. Stay tuned.
Under this process, the entire labor certification should be completed
within a few days, similar to the LCAs for H1Bs. Select cases may be
scrutinized, for quality control and fraud purposes, for an exhaustive
review. If implemented, this process could further streamline the labor
certification process.
 Employers Provided Conversion Option in some Pre-PERM Cases
Posted May 25, 2007
RIR Conversion
Update
Posted
Mar 30, 2007
RIR
Conversion Update - Feb 2007
Posted
Mar 02, 2007
Correction
of BPC Case Type
Posted
Jan 26, 2007
DOL
Extends "Hold Harmless" Notification Date
Posted
Jan 19, 2007
DOL Updates Guidance on Conversion to RIR
- December 2006
Posted
Jan 05, 2007
DOL
Facilitates RIR Conversion of Regular LC Cases
Posted Dec 15, 2006
RIR
Conversion Possible for Most Labor Certifications at BPCs
Posted Oct 13, 2006
RIR
Conversion Expansion FAQs
Posted Oct 13, 2006
DOL
Provides Additional Guidance on BECs and PERM Centers
Posted
Feb 04, 2005
 PERM
and EB3 Candidates - File Regular LC Now!
Posted
Jan 21, 2005
PERM
Implications : One-Year Incremental Extensions on H1Bs
Posted
Jan 14, 2005
DOL Transition Watch : Backlog Reduction Update
Posted
Nov 26, 2004
DOL
Clarifies Its "No Expedite" Policy
Posted
Oct 08, 2004
DOL
on PERM & Backlog Reductions
Posted Jun 04, 2004
PERM
Update : May 2004
Posted May 14, 2004
DOL Update
on RIR Processing Guidelines
Posted Nov 28, 2003
DOL
Attempts to Address Routine RIR Denials
Posted Aug 22, 2003
Avoid Status Checks on Labor
Certifications
Posted Jul 12, 2002
Concerns with DOL's PERM Rules
Posted Jul 12, 2002
Priority Dates Expected to Remain
Current
Posted Jun 21, 2002
 President Proposes Department of
Homeland Security
Posted Jun 14, 2002
Department
of Labor Update : May 2002
Posted Jun 07, 2002
Proposed Regulations on PERM Published May 2002
Posted May 10, 2002
PERM Regulations Expected Soon
Posted May 03, 2002
Department of Labor Update : Spring 2002
Posted April 26, 2002
DOL Issues RIR Guidance in Light of Layoffs
Posted April 05, 2002
Labor Certification
Conversion Further Clarified
Posted
March 22, 2002
Maryland Labor Certification Processing Dates
Posted
December 28, 2001
DOL
Issues Long Awaited RIR Conversion Regulations
Posted
August 10, 2001
DOL Expecting to Issue LC Conversion Regulation Shortly
Posted
June 29, 2001
RIR Conversion Regulation Published by DOL
Posted Aug 05, 2000
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FIRM. All Rights Reserved
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