The Department of Labor (DOL)’s new Project Firewall has become a much discussed—and misunderstood—development in U.S. business immigration. Announced in September 2025, this initiative signals an increased focus on federal enforcement of the H-1B visa program. While employers are right to take notice, some of the conversation around Project Firewall has been driven by speculation.
Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced the creation of a new Office of Immigration Policy (OIP) within the Department of Labor (DOL)’s Office of the Secretary. The move is part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to streamline legal, employment-based immigration processes, enhance coordination across federal agencies, and reduce employer reliance on undocumented workers.
Continue Reading Department of Labor Establishes Office of Immigration Policy
The Foreign Labor Certification (FLC) Data Center houses the online wage library for prevailing wage determinations. A centralized database, the FLC Data Center collects and stores data on labor certifications filed by U.S. employers seeking to hire foreign workers under various visa programs. The database is designed to provide transparency and accountability in the foreign
On April 21, 2023, the Department of Labor (DOL)’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced that after May 15, 2023, at 6:59 p.m. EST, they would no longer accept ETA-9089 applications via their legacy PERM Online System. Thereafter, all ETA-9089 applications must be filed using the DOL’s FLAG system, and OFLC will no
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that will become effective immediately. The new rule will apply to Permanent Employment Certification, H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 Visa programs. DOL explains that the rule is necessary to curb actual and potential abuses of the visa programs and cites the COVID-19 public health
Today, May 8, 2019, after much anticipation, the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor posted a joint rule in the Federal Register providing 30.000 additional seasonal workers for American businesses.
Based on interest, we also provide a link to the Attestation for Employers Seeking to Employ H-2B Nonimmigrant Workers released to facilitate the process.
Please
Amid a flurry of media reports last week and verified today by U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced the availability of 30,000 additional H-2B visas for 2019 seasonal employment. Several years ago, Congress gave the DHS Secretary, in consultation with the Department of Labor, the authority to augment
The Department of Labor provided an iCERT update this afternoon:
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT (Updated January 2, 2019, 12:00PM EST):
Within the first five minutes of opening the semi-annual H-2B certification process on January 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor iCERT system had an unprecedented demand for H-2B certifications with more than 97,800 workers requested in
The Department of Labor announced an iCERT service interruption on Jan. 1:
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
We sincerely apologize for the major service interruption in the iCERT System early in the morning of January 1, 2019. Due to overwhelming filing demand, the Department’s technology staff is working diligently to investigate the cause of the system outage and
The National Law Journal selected the 2018 Trailblazers in Immigration. This year, Greenberg Traurig Immigration & Compliance attorneys Laura Reiff and Kate Kalmykov were recognized on the list for their notable achievements in the practice of law.
Kalmykov leads the immigration practice group in the firm’s New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia offices. She has