Employers Intending to File on April 1, 2010–the First Day for FY 2011 H–1B "cap" Cases–Need to Prepare Now!Recent Developments Require Greater "Lead Time" to Prepare and File an H–1B PetitionCalendar year 2009 saw U.S. Department of Labor delays and intractable glitches in issuing Labor Condition Attestations (LCA), a requirement in filing H–1B petitions. There are now new e–filing procedures required for obtaining a prevailing wage determination that must be allowed for in calculating preparation time. Formerly, the prevailing wage was obtained through the State Workforce Agency (SWA) by mail or fax and generally received within 7–14 days. Now, the prevailing wage determination must be obtained electronically from the U.S. Department of Labor. Because of this new requirement, it is anticipated that obtaining a prevailing wage determination could take up to 30 days. Once the prevailing wage determination is received, a petitioning employer should allow an additional 7 days, absent DOL error, for processing the LCA. This means that in order to be ready for the April 1, 2010 filing date, the prevailing wage request must be submitted electronically no later than February 15, 2010.Read More |