On December 30, 2024, the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) reminded employers and other stakeholders that the filing window to submit an H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142B and appendices) requesting work start dates of April 1, 2025, or later, opened on January 1, 2025. OFLC said that H-2B applications requesting an April 1, 2025, work start date will be denied if they were filed before that date.
The agency noted:
- OFLC will randomly order for processing all H-2B applications requesting a work start date of April 1, 2025, that were filed during the initial three calendar days (January 1-3, 2025) using the randomization procedures published in the Federal Register.
- If OFLC identifies multiple applications that appear to have been filed for the same job opportunity, OFLC will issue a Notice of Deficiency. If multiple filings were submitted during the three-day filing window, all of those applications will receive a Notice of Deficiency asking the employer to demonstrate that the job opportunities are not the same. Employers that fail to establish a bona fide need for each application will receive a non-acceptance denial.
