AILA has learned that INS Headquarters, on or about October 22, 2001, apparently notified the Nebraska Service Center that LCAs were no longer to be considered valid as of the date of signature; rather, the date the Department of Labor processes the LCA will again determine the LCA validity period.

On May 10, 2001, the NSC had agreed that an LCA would be valid as of the date of signature rather than the date the DOL approved the LCA. This agreement was reached to avoid the problem that came about because DOL inserts the date the LCA is processed as the "start" date, which, because of substantial delays in LCA processing earlier this year, could have been several weeks after the LCA was filed with the DOL. Prior to this agreement, the NSC was denying H-1B extension cases due to a gap between the H-1B status and the validity date of the LCA supporting the petition to extend.

The NSC has again started denying extension of status applications where there is a gap between H-1B status and the LCA validity period in support of the petition to extend.

Contributed by Greg Adams, AILA-NSC Liaison Committee