DOL on H-1B 24-Month Period for Prevailing Wage Data

Dear [name omitted]:

This is in response to your request of May 27, 1994, for an advisory opinion under the H-1B program for nonimmigrant professionals in specialty occupations.

In your letter, you request guidance as to the date on which the 24-month period commences for purposes of the requirement that the employer obtain current prevailing wage data. Section .730(e)(2)(iv) of the Department of Labor's (Department's) H-1B regulations at 20 CFR part 655 provides that an employer must obtain current prevailing wage information "every 24 months throughout the period of employment of the H-1B alien, starting from the date the labor condition application is certified."

It is noted that some certifying officers do not currently indicate the date of certification on the labor condition application. A date line was inadvertently left off Form ETA published in the Federal Register (57 FR 1316). However, the regulations are quite explicit in this regard. If the date of otherwise determinable, the employer/attorney may wish to contact the regional office to obtain such information. The date of certification is one of the data elements contained in the Department's automated system to process labor condition applications.

As you may be aware, the Department published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register on October 6, 1993 (58 FR 52152). The proposed form which accompanies the NPRM did contain a date line and when the Department publishes a final rule under the program (expected to be published in July of 1994), the date line will surely be included in the final form.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Flora T. Richardson

27MM4I113