February 7, 2007

Employers Beware- DOL Is Looking to Charge a Fee for Applications for Alien Labor Certification

On February 5, 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") published a memo stating that a legislative proposal is being submitted to Congress regarding filing fees to be charged for Applications for Alien Labor Certification filed under the PERM program. Applications for alien labor certification are filed in conjunction with some employment based applications for permanent residency filed by employers that wish to sponsor a foreign national employee to work for that employer in the U.S. on a permanent basis. The application for alien labor certification is the first step that a U.S. employer must take in sponsoring a foreign national employee for permanent residency in the U.S. Currently, DOL does not charge any filing fees to an employer for filing an application for alien labor certification under the PERM program. Per the DOL memo, the proposed filing fee would be part of the application process and would only offset the cost of the PERM program. However employer's should note that such a fee implementation coupled with the USCIS proposal on fee increases (http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/E7-1631.htm) will make the process much more costly. Click here for a copy of the DOL memo regarding the proposed filing fee for applications for alien labor certification under the PERM program.