ILW.COM - immigration news: PERM Softly Creeping: Backlog Reduction, Regional Processing And Other Troubling Sounds Of Silence

For years now, U.S. employers and immigration lawyers have been waiting in fearful anticipation. Apprehensively, we anticipate the oft-promised, long-delayed arrival of the Labor Department's PERM regulation - the new "streamlined' regime governing U.S. labor-market testing.

While "mum's [still] the word" on the contents of PERM, or even the confirmed date of its publication, other profound developments will soon transform labor certification practice. These significant changes loom on the immediate horizon

Two "BRCs" (Backlog Reduction Centers) have been established in Dallas and Philadelphia.
Mildewed cases filed years ago are now being trucked from the State Workforce Agencies to the BRCs, reportedly for "first-in, first-out" processing.
The Alien Employment Certification staff at the SWAs have been assigned other duties or given pink slips.
SWAs will no longer process labor certifications but merely provide prevailing wage determinations.
Non-Government Contractors operating under a performance agreement have two years to plough through the backlog.
Whether or not PERM arrives before year-end as promised, starting no later than March, 2005 ALL applications must be filed and adjudicated at the two NPCs (National Processing Centers).
Meantime, the State Department predicts a retrogression of priority dates in January, and immigration attorneys and employers must decide on strategies for today's cases.

Urgent questions arise but the government to date has responded only with the sounds of silence:

Is "Reduction in Recruitment" still a viable strategy?
Can we afford to await the time required for pre-filing recruitment?
Will "Traditional" labor certification cases be processed more quickly than the RIRs in light of the new backlog-reduction initiatives?
How long will be the after-life of "business necessity", "experience gained with an affiliated employer abroad" and other common-law enhancements to labor-certification practice?
Will the Labor Department's new fraud-prevention measures unfairly entangle and delay legitimate cases?
How should we prepare our submissions so that newly-trained contractors do not wrongly reject or deny applications?
What can be done to challenge inflated prevailing-wage determinations once the 95% rule is history?
How do we best position our cases to allow conversion or upgrading to the new PERM process?

In this newest tele-seminar, PERM Softly Creeping: Backlog Reduction, Regional Processing And Other Troubling Sounds Of Silence, ILW.COM is pleased to present the nation's leading experts who will provide up-to-the-minute information and suggested practice strategies.

Because PERM rules could be published at any time, however, the program agenda and the content of the sessions will be adjusted to accommodate an in-depth analysis of the final PERM rule as soon as the PERM rule is published.

FIRST Phone Session on December 16th: Detailed agenda will be adjusted as necessary.

SECOND Phone Session on January 10th: Detailed agenda will be adjusted as necessary.

THIRD Phone Session on February 10th: Detailed agenda will be adjusted as necessary.

The deadline to sign up is Tuesday, December 14th. For more info, detailed curriculum, speaker bios, and registration information, see: http://www.ilw.com/seminars/december2004.shtm. (Fax version: http://www.ilw.com/seminars/december2004.pdf.)

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