The 9142B Foreign Labor Certification Experience

The 9142B Foreign Labor Certification is Certainly an Adventure

If this video were classified as a genre, it would certainly fall into the Adventure/Suspense genre, because the 9142B Foreign Labor Certification (find the form here) will keep you on the edge of your seat as you must patiently await a decision from the Department of Labor. If you’re looking for an informative text guide, keep scrolling — If you prefer to listen to and watch a video then here it is:

We briefly touched on the 9142B in our first installment of this video series–Part I, A Definitive Guide to H-2B Visa Certification in 2017. The Foreign Labor Certification from the DOL has become more and more important in recent years, so a top notch 9142B is essential to a successful H-2B Visa application.

The 9142B Foreign Labor Certification is the 2nd Major Step in an H-2B Application

If you watched our first two videos, then you may remember that the Prevailing Wage Determination, or PWD for short, is the first step in obtaining H-2B approval. If you paid attention, you’ll remember that the 9141 document for the PWD is relatively simple and painless.

Receiving a Foreign Labor Certification from the DOL certainly cannot be interpreted as simple or painless. This part of the application is processed through iCert, an electronic portal used by the DOL. iCert facilitates the completion of your 9142B. The H-2B portion of iCert shows 12 steps or tabs that must be completed by an applicant. The first 11 are simply building on your 9141 and won’t be too difficult. It’s the last step in the 9142B that can be quite the adventure.

Here’s a look at that 9142B we’re talking about:

Don’t Forget Those Attachments with your 9142B

The final tab of the application process via iCert is an attachments tab. Some of the documents you’ll need to attach are simple and you already have them. Below is a common list of documents you will need to attach:

• 9141 Prevailing Wage Determination
• Job Order (You’ll also send this to your State Workforce Agency)
• Information about your foreign Recruiter
• A tentative Agreement with your foreign Recruiter
• 9142 Appendix B
• G-28 (if you’re an attorney)
• Statement of Temporary Need

The Statement of Temporary Need is the MOST Difficult Part of a 9142B Foreign Labor Certification

That last attachment is what can take up days or more likely weeks of your time. Your Statement of Temporary Need is your opportunity to show the DOL that your need is “Temporary” and that it falls into one of the enumerated categories of “Intermittent” “One-Time” “Seasonal” or “Peak Load”.

The Statement of Temporary Need needs to include all relevant documents including employee records, payroll records, business contracts, and tax records (just to name a few items). A Statement of Temporary Need can easily exceed 200 pages.

Something Always Goes Wrong with your 9142B Submission(s)

After electronically submitting your 9142B Foreign Labor Certification, odds are, there will be something wrong. Maybe you missed a field in the actual 9142B or maybe the DOL doesn’t like your Statement of Temporary Need. The DOL will issue a “Notice of Deficiency” and you will have an enumerated time to respond. This response might be possible simply by e-mailing your Certifying Officer and giving permission for them to make the necessary change for you, or you might have to completely revamp your Statement of Temporary Need depending on the deficiency.

Whatever you do, don’t try to make any changes via iCert. Even though you used it for your entire 9142B application, no changes can be made through this platform. There are a few things that might lead you to an opposite conclusion, but we are here to tell you not to fall for that fake because it will only delay your Foreign Labor Certification and your ability to file your I-129 with USCIS (but that gets us into another video).

Final Advice for the 9142B

The 9142B is the most tedious step of the H-2B application process. And even once you get through it and receive approval from the DOL, you’re not in the clear. It seems like a redundant requirement that is a waste of time. However, it does provide a chance for you to weigh your odds of an approval from USCIS and can help you make some adjustments to your application before submitting it to USCIS for a final decision.

For more on the final step of the H-2B Visa application or to check out our earlier videos, subscribe to our youtube channel.

If you missed our previous videos, consider checking them out or checking out our Future Law Blog for more information.