WAITING TIMES FOR
LABOR DEPARTMENT

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For most persons who immigrate through employment, it is necessary to obtain an Alien Labor Certification. To qualify for a temporary professional ("H-1B') visa, an approved Labor Condition Application (LCA) is a prerequisite. While an LCA may obtained within a few days or weeks, the attainment of an Alien Labor Certification may be a lengthy process, the duration of which varies according to a variety of factors including the location of one's employment.

The following statistics reflect approximate waiting times in days to obtain an Alien Labor Certificate broken down in the following categories: (1) Receive Instructions, (2) Transmit to Region, (3) Decision by Region, (4) Response or NOF from Region, and (5) Total Time. A sixth category provides the waiting times for receiving an approved Labor Condition Application (LCA).

Statistics are reported by monitors from the American Immigration Lawyers Association and reflect average processing times or ranges of processing times as of March 20, 1997. These are the latest waiting times available. These statistics have not been approved for publication by the Department of Labor.

See the Key below the following table for further explanations of the above six terms. .

KEY:

1) Time from initial filing with SESA until ad instructions received.
2) Time from filing final recruitment documentation with SESA until transmission
   to Regional Office of DOL.
3) Time from receipt of final recruitment documentation by Regional Office of DOL
   until decision.
4) Time from filing response to Notice of Findings until Decision.
5) Total time from initial filing with SESA until final determinations by Region.
6) Time from filing ETA-9035 (H-1B) to approval by Regional Office of DOL.

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