I wish this post could be tagged with “April Fool’s,” but now that we are over the hump of the H-1B filing deadline, we can turn our attention to what the Department of Labor will be doing to the Labor Condition Application (LCA) system. DOL is going to be managing the LCA and PERM systems through the same web portal, which they call “iCERT.” The LCA portion of iCERT will be available April 15, and there will be a 30-day transition before iCERT becomes the exlusive means for obtaining an LCA online as of May 15.
There are two significant changes. The first: only employers will be able to register for the iCERT system, much like the current PERM system. After a “proof of existence” check, the employer will be able to authorize others to complete LCAs on the employer’s behalf. The second: DOL is warning that the certification process will no longer be “instantaneous” as it is now – the regulations give them up to 7 days to certify an LCA, and they expect to use those 7 days.
We’ll be posting more on iCERT as it becomes available, and it will be discussed at our seminar. If you can’t wait, DOL has released this DOL iCERT handout.