Question: I have had a Labor Certification pending for several years. I understand the new PERM process is the new way of doing a Labor Certification. However, I am thinking that I would like to keep my current Labor Certification without converting it to PERM. How can I do this?

Answer: All of the current Labor Certifications have been or will be sent to the Backlog Reduction Centers. The names of these centers mean exactly what is indicated. They are opened for the sole purpose of reducing the entire backlog of old Labor Certifications. Once every old Labor Certification has been processed, the Backlog Reduction Centers will close.

Question: How many Applications have been shipped from the local processing centers prior to the newly created Backlog Reduction Centers?

Answer: Slightly over 180,000.

Question: How many applications have had data input into the new database systems?

Answer: Approximately 86,000.

Question: How many 45 day letters have gone out to indicate that the Petitioner and Beneficiary still want to continue with the Labor Certification at the Backlog Reduction Center?

Answer: Over 40,000.

Question: What is the number of hired/trained contractor personnel at each Backlog Reduction Center site?

Answer: Approximately 100 at each site (Atlanta and Chicago.)

Question: Will Atlanta/Chicago continue to process traditional cases after March 28, 2005?

Answer: They will keep some temporary work only. They are in the process of shipping all other cases to Backlog Reduction Centers. There are approximately 10,000 in total.

Question: Have contractors begun to review cases for substantive compliance with the necessary guidelines? If not, when is this expected to happen?

Answer: Yes and the Department of Labor are in training now.

Question: Is it actually possible that the backlog reduction process can be complete in two years? If not, what is the current projection?

Answer: It seems that as of now, the current projection is 24 to 30 months. Of course, this could markedly change.

Question: When do they expect to complete initial data entry on all cases?

Answer: The goal at this time is to finish data entry on all cases by the end of summer 2005. It seems that no actual process will be performed on the case until initial entry log in is complete.

Question: Will there be an on-line system available to check the status of cases?

Answer: The Department of Labor is working on getting information on their website about which cases have shipped. They are also working on an e-mail capability to enable a party to find out whether a case is located at the Backlog Reduction Center. The contractor staff would answer the e-mails.

Question: In what order will they process the cases?

Answer: They expect to process them based upon when they were originally filed. In other words, the older it was filed, the sooner it should get processed.