From Fragomen.com, 10/01/2013
Department
of Labor
DOL's foreign labor
certification operations have ceased and will remain suspended until further
notice. DOL issued PERM and LCA certifications on Monday evening, but will not
process any further cases to completion until after the shutdown concludes. When
normal operations resume, employers should expect delays as the agency works
through its case backlog.
The PERM and iCERT systems are
now offline and will remain so for the duration of the shutdown, but were
briefly operational this morning and appeared to be accepting filings. It is
not clear how applications submitted during this brief window of opportunity
will be treated after the shutdown is over. Employers and their immigration
counsel will need to monitor these cases closely after DOL operations resume,
and should be prepared for the possibility that cases submitted today may need
to be refiled later on.
Employers who filed PERM
applications on Monday received DOL’s standard sponsorship questionnaire emails
this morning, but will not be able to complete them until after the shutdown.
Impact
of DOL Shutdown on H-1B Filings
Though USCIS will continue to process petitions during the shutdown, employers
may not be able to file H-1B petitions because of the suspension of labor
condition application (LCA) processing at the Department of Labor. A valid,
certified LCA is a requirement for every H-1B petition. In the past, USCIS has
relaxed its rules and accepted H-1B filings without certified LCAs when DOL
operations have been suspended or delayed, but it has not yet announced whether
it will do so during the present shutdown. Suspension of LCA operations will
also affect the processing of E-3 and H-1B1 filings at USCIS Service Centers
and U.S. consulates. E-3 and H-1B1 filings also require a valid, certified LCA.
U.S.
Consulates
Currently, visa services at
U.S. consulates appear to be operating normally, but foreign nationals should
submit visa applications and make visa appointments as soon as possible in case
consular operations are affected by the shutdown later on. The State Department
will use funding from application fees to support consular functions for the
time being, but it is not clear how long these funds will remain available.
Employers and visa applicants should be prepared for the possibility of future
delays in the event that the shutdown persists for more than a few days and
State Department needs to suspend or limit visa services.
E-Verify
Operations
The E-Verify system is down for
the duration of the federal shutdown. Employers will not be able to initiate
E-Verify queries or resolve tentative nonconfirmations, and will not be
expected to meet the usual E-Verify deadlines. However, employers must not take
any adverse action against an employee whose employment eligibility
verification cannot be confirmed in E-Verify due to the shutdown.
All employers remain subject to
the same I-9 obligations. E-Verify outage would not affect the deadlines that
are applicable to Form I-9 completion.
Other
Government Benefits
The Social Security
Administration has confirmed that it is not accepting or processing
applications for Social Security numbers or replacement cards during the
shutdown. Foreign nationals who are unable to obtain an SSN may not be able to
apply for a U.S. driver's license, open a bank account or obtain other
benefits.
The SAVE system is operating
during the shutdown. SAVE is the federal database used by government agencies
-- including State Departments of Motor Vehicles -- to verify the immigration
status of foreign nationals applying for benefits. Though foreign nationals
could experience delays in driver's license applications and renewals for other
reasons related to the shutdown, SAVE verifications should not be affected.
