Filing of Labor Condition Application (LCA) With the Department of Labor

We will assist employer to use due diligence in order to certify to the Department of Labor that there is a lack of availability of U.S. workers and draft the labor certification application to ensure the DOL does not classify the application as “unduly restrictive.”

An employer, or the employer's authorized agent or representative, which meets the definition of "employer" set forth in §655.715 and intends to employ an H-1B nonimmigrant in a specialty occupation or as a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability is required to submit an LCA to the Department of Labor (8 C.F.R. 212.8). The Employment and Training administration must certify that American workers in the applicants field are unavailable in the locality of the applicants destination and that the applicants employment will not adversely affect wages and working conditions of American workers. Certification applies to third and sixth preference immigrants. Similar labor certification is also necessary for nonimmigrants in certain business related categories.

When an H-1B is processed, papers have to be processed with the BCIS and the Department of Labor (DOL). These papers are the Labor Condition Application (LCA a/k/a the form ETA 9035). The DOL is involved in the process because the federal government wants to ensure that if foreign workers are being hired it is not being done in a manner that underpays them. This protects the foreign workers from being abused, but the main purpose of this process is to protect the jobs of American workers and to make sure that wages are not artificially depressed.

When a U.S. corporation hires an H-1B worker it will have to pay that worker the prevailing wage as determined by the DOL and its wage surveys. If a U.S. company does not offer the H-1B worker a wage that comes within 95% of this prevailing wage, an H-1B petition cannot be processed. The LCA is the form where the prevailing wage is set forth and the U.S. company promises to pay at least the prevailing wage. Once the company completes and signs this LCA, it must be sent to one of the 10 regional DOL offices for certification. The process may take anywhere from a couple of days to four or five weeks depending on the area of the country. The BCIS will not approve an H-1B petition without a completed, signed and DOL certified LCA.

When an H-1B is processed, papers have to be processed with the BCIS and the Department of Labor (DOL). These papers are the Labor Condition Application (LCA a/k/a the form ETA 9035). The DOL is involved in the process because the federal government wants to ensure that if foreign workers are being hired it is not being done in a manner that underpays them. This protects the foreign workers from being abused, but the main purpose of this process is to protect the jobs of American workers and to make sure that wages are not artificially depressed.

When a U.S. corporation hires an H-1B worker it will have to pay that worker the prevailing wage as determined by the DOL and its wage surveys. If a U.S. company does not offer the H-1B worker a wage that comes within 95% of this prevailing wage, an H-1B petition cannot be processed. The LCA is the form where the prevailing wage is set forth and the U.S. company promises to pay at least the prevailing wage. Once the company completes and signs this LCA, it must be sent to one of the 10 regional DOL offices for certification. The process may take anywhere from a couple of days to four or five weeks depending on the area of the country. The BCIS will not approve an H-1B petition without a completed, signed and DOL certified LCA.