How labor substitution works?

[tejonidhi]

Hi,
one of my friend is working for a desi consuting firm. Due to emergency at his place he has to leave to India dusring the labor substition process. Now the consuting firm is saying that they have substituted a labor for him. They did not apply for I140 for him. Please let me know if there is a way to find weather his labor is substituted or not.
Thank you

[ArkBird]

I think labor substitution is no longer allowed.

[Leo07]

Post July 15th 2007...Labor substitution is banned...Thanks to many cheap consulting companies for selling the Labor Certs in Black market.

[rajenk]

Currently there is no way you can substitute a labor certification. Your post saying "Now the consulting firm is saying that they have substituted a labor for him" could you be more specific what "Substitution" means in this context?

I am forewarning not to get cheated!

Thanks
Raj

[tejonidhi]

My friend is in India during the July 15 period. He is being told by the consulting firm that they have applied for Labor Substitution. All I know about labor substitution is that you have to apply for I 140 along with the approved labor sheet that company gets from DOL. The company Lawyer kept saying that they have sent it to DOL for substitution. I just want to clarify that there is no other way of substitution other than applying I 140.
Thank you

[tejonidhi]

Rajen,
Thanks for your advice. He does not want to come to US for job as he left US for good.the consulting firm told him that they have applied for his substitution and brought him back here. So I am a little concerned to know if there is any other way of Labor substitution.
Consulting company lawyer says they filed it prior to July 15.
Thank you

[kaisersose]

Hi,
one of my friend is working for a desi consuting firm. Due to emergency at his place he has to leave to India dusring the labor substition process. Now the consuting firm is saying that they have substituted a labor for him. They did not apply for I140 for him. Please let me know if there is a way to find weather his labor is substituted or not.
Thank you

The short answer is, it does not work. It has been permanently banned following heavy abuse.

Substitution is a process of cutting the queue, by using a Labor approved for someone else earlier. Many people who came ino the US in 2006 on H-1b now have green cards by paying $$$ to some GC shops for old Labors. This came to the notice of DOL and they decided to put an end to it.

[rdehar]

How does it work? It doesn't work anymore :D

Labor substitution is dead.

Beware of anyone scamming you in name of labor sub...

[gc_chahiye]

Rajen,
Thanks for your advice. He does not want to come to US for job as he left US for good.the consulting firm told him that they have applied for his substitution and brought him back here. So I am a little concerned to know if there is any other way of Labor substitution.
Consulting company lawyer says they filed it prior to July 15.
Thank you

If they filed it before July 15th, then yes its possible that they are telling the truth, as its only been banned from that date onwards. Expect a lot of scrutiny of the case (it got banned because of lots of fraud related to it).

Typically LC is substituted at I-140 stage by requesting the USCIS, however substitution can also be done at LC stage by requesting DOL.

Whats the status of the LC now? Why has the I-140 not been filed?

[tejonidhi]

Hello GC_Chaiye,

Thanks for your reply. The consulting firm is saying that they have sent it to DOL before July 15 and are waiting for the reply for the Substitution( I really doubt the legality of that statement). In case if there is a provision then How can we check the status of it?

MY friend has to bear the expenditure for the I140. He just came back to US after 5 months and would like to know weather he can spend 1500$ on this unrealistic Labor.
thank you

[s_r_e_e]

i think applying I140 is the labor substitution..it is good possibility that the desi consulting is playing games

[maverick_iv]

There were two ways to substitute a labor. One by applying for an I-140 with an approved labor certification. Another way was to substitute the beneficiary name in a pending labor certification application. Maybe thats what the company lawyer did.

For the latter, I am not sure if one needs the beneficiary's signature to do so. One way to check is to ask the company's lawyer for the case number and you could check the status. If the labor is pending with one of the BECs you could request for a screenshot of the case status and that would have the beneficiary's name. But since the BECs are being phased out, I am not sure if they still honor status requests.

My friend is in India during the July 15 period. He is being told by the consulting firm that they have applied for Labor Substitution. All I know about labor substitution is that you have to apply for I 140 along with the approved labor sheet that company gets from DOL. The company Lawyer kept saying that they have sent it to DOL for substitution. I just want to clarify that there is no other way of substitution other than applying I 140.
Thank you

[onemorecame]

It doesn't work anymore

[gc_chahiye]

Hello GC_Chaiye,

Thanks for your reply. The consulting firm is saying that they have sent it to DOL before July 15 and are waiting for the reply for the Substitution( I really doubt the legality of that statement). In case if there is a provision then How can we check the status of it?

MY friend has to bear the expenditure for the I140. He just came back to US after 5 months and would like to know weather he can spend 1500$ on this unrealistic Labor.
thank you

I dont think you can check LC status on your own by just calling up DOL, the petitioner (the employer) or their representative can. See if they'll atleast give you a case number that you can try your luck with.

Atleast with PERM you typically need to sign the LC and send it alongwith the I-140 application. Ask for a copy of the approved LC. Also, ask if they are ok with you using your own attorney for this (its worth the expense).

[rajeshalex]

U can get the tracking nummber /case number from the lawyer . But you can not get any details from USCIS since 140 is owned by company.

However if the company has received a140 receipt then the receipt will have
the beneficiary name

If u are the beneficiary then u can take an infopass with uscis and get the information from the case number
Rajesh