On February 26, the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced that all H-2B applications filed on or after July 3, 2019 will be randomly ordered for processing based on the date of filing and the start date of work requested. OFLC will randomly order and assign for processing all of the H-2B applications requesting the earliest start date of work permitted under the semi-annual visa allocation (i.e., October 1 or April 1) and filed during the first three calendar days of the regulatory time period for filing H-2B applications. Once first actions are issued, OFLC will randomly assign for processing all other H-2B applications filed on a single calendar day.

OFLC is seeking comments on this procedural change. The notice was published in the Federal Register on March 4. Comments close on April 3, 2019. . Interested stakeholders may submit comments to [email protected] or Thomas M. Dowd, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Box PPII 12-200, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210.

OFLC will review all of the comments received, make any changes it determines are appropriate, and issue a final announcement prior to July 3, 2019. Stakeholders can access a full copy of the procedural announcement here.