The Department of Labor announced on October 30, 2013 that as of October 25, 2013, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) no longer has access to employer application records that are beyond the retention period of five (5) years from the date a final determination was issued and stored in the OFLC Permanent Backlog System (PBLS). The PBLS system, which was previously used by the OFLC Backlog Processing Centers, has now been destroyed in accordance with OFLC Records Schedule Number DAA-0369-2013-0002. Prior to destruction of the PBLS system software and database, any records within the 5-year retention period, active investigation, Freedom of Information Act requests, or mandatory litigation hold have been identified and were not destroyed.
The OFLC will no longer respond to inquiries to confirm priority dates, search for records in response to FOIA requests, or provide information for requests for duplicate certifications for permanent labor certification applications with a final determination issued in 2008 or earlier, in keeping with the OFLC records schedule.