The DOL has announced that it will implement its new portal system called iCERT for the Labor Condition Application (LCA), which is part of the H-1B petition, and PERM filings. Like the current system, employers or attorneys will need to create a user account before filing the LCA and PERM applications online. The iCERT portal will become available April 15, 2009, for LCAs and September 1, 2009, for PERM applications. DOL will allow the current system to be used until May 15, 2009, for LCAs and until October 1, 2009, for PERM applications. Then, on these dates, only the new iCERT portal may be used to file cases online.
Also, on the May and September deadlines, DOL will deactivate the current electronic version of the LCA and PERM application and no data will be transferred to the new system. Therefore, it is wise to copy any information for a pending case on the current system into the new system before the deactivation date.
DOL cautions users to expect an increase in processing times for an LCA to up to seven business days, since DOL will perform an official review before certifying each LCA submitted.