Office of Foreign Labor Certification
Official website:	Office of Foreign Labor Certification

TheOffice of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is a division of the Employment & Training Administration within theU.S. Department of Labor (DOL), a United States executive department responsible for promoting the welfare of workers, job seekers, and retirees.^[1][2]

Specifically, the OFLC helps thesecretary of labor carry out part of theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA), which requires that certain labor conditions exist before employers may hire foreign workers.

Work

Administrative State
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Mission

According to its official website, the OFLC mission is to provide:

Duties

The OFLC carries out certain parts of United States immigration law. According to theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA), "[a]ny alien who seeks to enter the United States for the purpose of performing skilled or unskilled labor is inadmissible" unless thesecretary of labor certifies that two conditions are met:^[5]

1) The secretary must certify that there are not sufficient workers willing, able, qualified, and available at the time the visa application is submitted.

2) The secretary must certify that the employment of that alien "will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed."

The OFLC investigates whether labor conditions meet those standards before the secretary may certify that those conditions of the INA are fulfilled. Then, an alien may proceed with the immigration or temporary work visa process.^[6]

According to the OFLC, when the agency makes these evaluations the "accessibility of jobs for U.S. workers is balanced against the business needs of U.S. companies seeking the best talent possible worldwide."^[6]

OFLC published the following graphic to illustrate the labor certification process:

Statistics

The OFLC publishes reports detailing several operational facts:^[7][8]

• In 2015, there were 87,644 total electronic applications for labor certification.
• The OFLC granted 78,938 total certifications in 2015.
• In 2015, the OFLC approved around 90 percent of applications.
• 58 percent of applications were from computer and mathematical occupations in 2015.
• The top five states for applications in 2015 were California, Texas, New Jersey, New York, and Illinois.
• 78 percent of the applications were related to H1-B visas, which apply to those seeking jobs that typically require bachelor's degrees or higher in a related field of study.^[9]
• The top five countries of citizenship for applicants in 2015 were India, China, South Korea, Canada, and the Philippines.
• The top five employers seeking labor certifications in 2015 were Microsoft Corporation, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Google Inc., Intel Corporation, and Yahoo! Inc.

Organization

The OFLC performs its duties in National Processing Centers (NPCs) around the country. In Atlanta, the OFLC reviews employer applications for permanent labor certifications, and at the Chicago NPC, the OFLC handles temporary labor certifications. The National Prevailing Wage and Helpdesk Center is responsible for reviewing prevailing wage requests.^[4]

Employment

The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government is a website that tracks workforce trends in federal agencies. According to its 2015 analysis, the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor—under which the Office of Foreign Labor Certification operates—ranked number 245 out of 320 federal sub-agencies. The metrics used in this ranking included leadership, pay, innovation, and support for diversity.^[10]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Office of Foreign Labor Certification'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

External links

• Official Office of Foreign Labor Certification website
• Official U.S. Department of Labor website

Footnotes

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Dresch (2000) "Confronting the Administrative Threat" by Philip Hamburger and Tony Mills (2017) "Constitutionalism after the New Deal" by Cass R. Sunstein (1987) Federalist No. 23 by Alexander Hamilton (1787) "From Administrative State to Constitutional Government" by Joseph Postell (2012) "Interring the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule (2002) "Rulemaking as Legislating" by Kathryn Watts (2015) "The Checks & Balances of the Regulatory State" by Paul R. Verkuil (2016) "The Myth of the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Keith E. Whittington and Jason Iuliano (2017) "The Progressive Origins of the Administrative State: Wilson, Goodnow, and Landis" by Ronald J. Pestritto (2007) "The Rise and Rise of the Administrative State" by Gary Lawson (1994) "The Study of Administration" by Woodrow Wilson (1887) "The Threat to Liberty" by Steven F. Hayward (2017) "Why the Modern Administrative State Is Inconsistent with the Rule of Law" by Richard A. Epstein (2008) Agencies Administrative Conference of the United States •United States Civil Service Commission •U.S. Government Accountability Office •U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs •U.S. Office of Management and Budget