We received the following email message from the DOL regarding the delay in our Prevailing Wage Requests:
Thank you for your inquiry.
The NPWC is currently experiencing delays in processing prevailing wage determinations as it is working to reissue certain prevailing wage determinations to comply with a court order issued June 15, 2011 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. We continue to encourage all requestors to submit their ETA Form 9141 at least 60 days in advance of the employer’s initial recruitment efforts.
Thank You, NPWC
The June 15, 2011 court order stems from the August 30, 2010 decision in CATA v. Solis, where the district court ordered DOL to promulgate new H-2B prevailing wage regulations. AILA has contacted DOL for additional information on steps it is taking to comply with the court order, including how long it will take to reissue the H-2B wage determinations, and the short-/long-term impact of the order on prevailing wage processing times.
This delay has the unintended consequence of hurting applicants with time sensitive applications, specifically those in the 5th year of H-1B status and those approaching the start of of their 5th year in H-1B status. This is because applicants with a PERM case pending for 12 months are eligible to extend their H-1B status for 1 year beyond the normal 6 year period.
We hope that the DOL will catch up quickly and get back to the 21 days processing time that we were used to up until the end of May.
We will post updates as we receive them from DOL.