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The Many Faces of Stern Elkind Curray & Alterman LLP

Since 1985,Stern Elkind Curray & Alterman has limited its practice to immigration law, with a special emphasis on matters relating to the employment of foreign professionals. Mr. Stern and Ms. Elkind founded the firm with the goal of providing the very best immigration advice and representation to our clients. As the firm has grown, we have continued our commitment to maintaining a high level of expertise combined with an understanding that our clients are individuals whose lives are deeply affected by the work we do. Over the years, we have developed expertise and wide-ranging experience in all facets of immigration law.

We continue to be deeply affected by our clients, some of whom are introduced within this web site.

Update on Labor Certification Backlog Reduction and PERM Regulations

January 16, 2004

William L. Carlson, Chief of Foreign Labor Certification, issued a Policy Memo on November 20, 2003, to explain the processing of RIR applications and backlogs at regional offices, and to address the upcoming implementation of PERM.

Minutes from the AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) Department of Labor Liaison Committee on January 9, 2004, provided some further elaboration on Mr. Carlson's Memo. Specifically, Fran Berger, Chair of the Committee, reiterated that the Memo addressed three categories of labor certification applications: those that would be certified, those that would be issued Notice of Findings, and those that would receive a letter offering a number of options including, but not limited to, withdrawal of the RIR request, and remand to the State Work Force Agency for supervised recruitment and retesting.

First, DOL Officials discussed how the Memo would impact applications remanded prior to the issuance of the November 20, 2003 Memo, particularly in connection with Region VI, and Mr. Carlson stated that the date of the Memo would be its effective date, except for applications that were remanded in Region VI after July 17, 2003.

In addition, DOL Officials commented that PERM regulation would not be released to the Office of Management Budget (OMB), which is required, until there is a 2004 budget in place for PERM. Mr. Carlson confirmed at the meeting that once PERM regulations were published, implementation would then be intended 120 days thereafter. The Department of Labor Headquarters plans to schedule roll-out meetings prior to implementation to Beta-test PERM software. Once PERM goes live, applications will no longer be accepted under the current regulations pertaining to RIR and limited review.

Finally, Department of Labor Officials commented that the progress of creating two backlog reduction centers for existing labor certification cases pending are also driven by the 2004 budget delays.

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