The Department of Labor “clarifies” its view on the attorney’s role in the labor certification process

 

After the Department of Labor (DOL) recently decided to audit all labor certification cases filed by the biggest immigration law firm in the country, Fragomen et al. (which is also a major author on publications on the immigration process), claiming that some attorneys may have been inappropriately involved in the recruitment process, it appears that DOL has clearly been taken aback by the immigration bar's reaction to DOL's apparent over-reaching. The action by the DOL to effectively prosecute Fragomen publicly before any finding of wrongdoing has been seen as unfair and effectively targeting the entire immigration bar.

 

DOL therefore released on June 13, 2008 a document styled "PERM Program Guidance Bulletin on the Clarification of Scope of Consideration Rule in 20 CFR 656.10(b) (2)". The DOL appears to be defensive and attempting to justify its actions despite that DOL does not have sufficient resources to audit in the way it recently has been. As a practical matter, US employers need to remain in contact with counsel to wade through the almost incomprehensible labor certification process. It will be very interesting to see how the DOL handles this matter as the U.S. needs additional foreign workers (as does most of the recent of the world's industrialized countries). If DOL is interested in rooting out fraud, DOL may want to work more closely with organizations like the American Immigration Lawyer's Association AILA) to ensure that the process does work as intended.