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Foreign Labor Processing Case Status (updated 02/10/2006)

What's happening with my application for Alien Employment Certification for Permanent Employment in the United States?
As part of USDOL's effort to improve the processing of permanent labor certification applications, Permanent cases from the Regional Offices and the State Workforce Agencies are being transferred to the ETA Backlog Processing Centers. The centers will issue a "45-day letter" to the employer. The letter will ask the employer if it wishes to continue with the processing of the application. Additionally, the letter will inform the employer if any information from the application is missing. The employer will be given 45 days from the date of the letter to respond. If the employer fails to respond, the application will be closed.

Why is my application being processed by a Backlog Processing Center?
ETA has established two (2) Backlog Processing Centers in accordance with an interim final rule we published in the Federal Register on July 21, 2004. The rule allows us to consolidate state and Federal functions of the application review process into centralized locations. We estimate with adequate resources, it will take approximately 24-30 months to eliminate the permanent program's backlog of cases.

Which Backlog Processing Center has my application?
Which Backlog Processing Center has your application depends upon the area of intended employment for the job opportunity identified in the Permanent application.

• Philadelphia Backlog Processing Center
  If the area of intended employment is in the following states or territories, questions should be directed to the Philadelphia Processing Center at the address listed below:

U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
1 Belmont Avenue, Suite 200
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Phone: (484) 270-1500
Fax: (484) 270-1598

• Dallas Backlog Processing Center
  If the area of intended employment is in the following states or territories, questions should be directed to the Dallas Processing Center at the address listed below:

U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
700 North Pearl St., Suite 400N
Dallas, Texas 75201
Phone: (214) 237-9111
Fax: (214) 237-9135

Shipping Schedule:
Permanent case applications currently located at the SWAs and Regional Offices are being shipped to the Backlog Processing Centers in three phases based on local office receipt date.