Starting from January 1, 2010, the National Prevailing Wage and Helpdesk Center NPWHC) will process Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) requests for H1B,H1B1(Chile/Singapore), H1C(if reauthorized by Congress), H2B, E3 (Australia) programs, and the permanent labor certification program (PERM). The procedures for obtaining the required wage rates in the H2A Program described in the transition provision of the H2A 2008 Final Rule at 20 CFR 655.100(b)(2)(i) remain unchanged.

The NPWHC is working to provide Prevailing Wage Determinations as quickly as possible, in the first-in, first-out (FIFO) order. However, determination times may fluctuate somewhat as the Department works to centralize processing of PWD requests at the NPWHC. Therefore, US DOL encourage requestors to submit their ETA Forms 9141 at least 60 days in advance of the employers' initial recruitment efforts.  Apparently all PERM applications and H-1B applications that need official prevailing wage determination will experience substantial delay due to this new change.  We encourage all potential xielaw clients to start the applications as early as possible in response to the delay by the new prevailing wage request/determiantion procedure.

An employer must use ETA Form 9141 to request a PWD from the NPWHC. This form is available in the Forms and Instructions section of the OFLC website: http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/form.cfm

To request a PWD, an employer must mail a completed ETA Form 9141 to the NPWHC at the following address:

U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
National Prevailing Wage and Helpdesk Center
Attn: PWD Request
1341 G Street, NW
Suite 201
Washington, DC 200053142

Initially, the NPWHC will only accept mailed in ETA Forms 9141. The Department is, however, in the process of creating a prevailing wage module on its iCert portal. We will make an announcement in the Federal Register and on the OFLC website when iCert becomes available for the electronic submission of PWD requests.

The Department's strong preference is for the electronic transmittal of PWDs. Therefore, we encourage all requestors to include their email addresses on the ETA Form 9141, under item B15. Once a determination is made, the NPWHC will email the requestor an electronic copy of the PWD. In order to receive emails from the NPWHC, requestors should ensure that the domain @dol.gov is not blocked by their email provider. If the requestor does not provide an email address on its ETA Form 9141, item B15, the NPWHC will send the PWD to the requestor's mailing address by regular mail.

Once an employer receives a PWD, the employer may begin recruitment or file an application for foreign labor certification, depending on the program. The employer must follow program specific rules and regulations for filing foreign labor certification applications. In addition, employers may refer to OFLC's website: www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov for more information on labor certification programs.

SWAs have been instructed to complete all PWD requests received on or prior to December 31, 2009. Any PWD request received at a SWA between January 1, 2010 and up to and including January 15, 2010 will be forward by the SWA to the NPWHC. Any PWD request received at a SWA after January 15, 2010 will be returned to the requestor with instructions on how to file the PWD request with the NPWHC.

If you have a problem or issue with a PWD request submitted to the NPWHC prior to receiving a determination, please email the NPWHC at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

If you are looking for an immigration attorney to handle the prevailing wage requests for the PERM application or H-1B application, please contact xielaw or send email directly to our attorney Jeff Z. Xie for consultation.