The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has begun transferring backlogged labor certification applications to its two Backlog Reduction Centers (BRCs) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Dallas, Texas.  DOL recently established the two BRCs to eliminate the backlog of over 300,000 labor certification applications pending across the United States at both the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) and DOL Regional Offices.  DOL has stated that it will transfer cases from the Regional Offices first, as they have been pending the longest in the system.  As the Regional Office backlogs are reduced, DOL will begin transferring cases pending at the SWAs to the BRCs.

We have recently received word that in October 2004, that the DOL Regional Office in San Francisco transferred approximately 20,000 cases that were pending in their office to the Philadelphia and Dallas BRCs.  It is important to note that only cases originally filed in California have been transferred from the DOL Regional Office in San Francisco.  Cases initially filed with other states which are also covered by the DOL Regional Office in San Francisco (Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, Guam, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Idaho) have not been transferred to the BRCs at this time, and are still being processed by the DOL Regional Office staff in San Francisco.

The following California cases have been transferred to the BRCs from the San Francisco DOL Regional Office: reduction in recruitment (RIR) cases transferred to the San Francisco DOL Regional Office in May 2003 or later; regular (non-RIR) cases transferred to the San Francisco DOL Regional Office in October 2003 or later.  California cases sent to the DOL Regional Office before the cut-off dates have not been transferred, and will continue to be processed by the DOL Regional Office staff in San Francisco. 

DOL has provided no information on BRC processing times.  Currently, the BRCs are focusing on data entry and the physical transfer of cases, and have not begun working on the transferred cases.  DOL has advised that the BRCs should issue transfer notices approximately 60 days after receiving the cases.  The transfer letters will inform applicants which BRC is working on the case, and may also give guidance and information on estimated processing times.  We will notify Jackson & Hertogs' clients as we receive transfer notices, and will provide updates on estimated processing times as this information becomes available.  Other than the general transfer information that we have relayed in this notice, we do not have specific information on individual files.  As soon as we receive notifications, clients and employers will be notified.

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