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Foreign Labor Certification

IDES supports the temporary Alien Employment Certification Program under an annual grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. We do not approve or deny applications for labor certification, we simply assist Illinois employers, who are unable to find qualified U.S. workers, to document their need to hire foreign workers who lack legal authorization to work permanently in the United States.​ 

3/19/15 - Please be advised that the federal district court in the Northern District of Florida, on March 18, 2015, issued an order effectively permitting the Department of Labor (DOL) to restart its processing of H-2B applications under the 2008 rule immediately and to continue processing applications under that rule through April 15, 2015. Effective immediately, DOL will begin processing H-2B applications under the 2008 rule and will continue to do so through April 15th. Under the terms of the court's March 18th order, any application for certification or prevailing wage determination that has not completed DOL processing by the time the stay ends as of April 16, 2015 may no longer be processed under the 2008 H-2B rule.  DOL has posted a public announcement on the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) website.

Important Notice to State Workforce Agencies (SWAs):

SWAs receiving job orders under 20 CFR 655.15, to be placed in connection with a future application for H-2B workers, may begin accepting and resume processing job orders under the H-2B program for the purposes of complying with H-2B recruitment requirements.  The regulatory authority for SWAs to accept and process H-2B job orders for the purposes of complying with H-2B recruitment requirements has been reinstated by the court ruling and takes effect immediately through April 15, 2015.  

Reference: US District Court order that provides the authority for DOL to carry out these instructions.

Chicago National Processing Center

Review

IDES staff are responsible for reviewing the following: 

  1. Receiving applications
  2. Returning those which are incomplete or which offer less than a prevailing rate of pay
  3. Testing the labor market for qualified U.S. workers who could perform the job offered to the foreign workers​

Eligibility

The employer must verify the identity and employment eligibility of anyone to be hired which includes completing and retaining the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9), available online from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.​​​

Submit

To begin the certification process:
 

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