H-1B petitions with uncertified LCAs to be accepted till Mar 4

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Nov 12 (PTI) US immigration authorities have
announced that they would accept petitions for H-1B visas,
popular among Indian professionals, without the certified
Labour Condition Applications (LCAs) for a 120-day period till
March 4 next year in view of processing delay at Department of
Labour.

The decision in this regard from the US Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) came after it received a number
of requests from the affected people that the agency should
accept H-1B petition filings that include LCAs that have been
filed with the Department of Labour (DOL) but have not yet
certified by DOL.
Processing delays arising from DOL's recently implemented
'iCERT' system have resulted in increased processing time,
beyond seven days, for certain LCA certifications.
Employers and beneficiaries are being negatively impacted
by DOL's increased processing time which currently delays
their ability to file with USCIS petitions for H-1B visas,
12,000 slots of which are still to be filled up.
DOL expects that the current increase in LCA processing
time is temporary, the USCIS said in a statement.
As a public accommodation, USCIS will begin to accept
H-1B petitions filed with uncertified LCAs for 120 days,
commencing November 5, and through March 4, 2010, it said.
However, USCIS will only accept such H-1B petitions if
they are filed at least seven calendar days after LCAs were
filed with DOL and include evidence of filings. (More) PTI LKJ
DDC


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