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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR’S UNVEILING OF NEW LCA FAXBACK SYSTEM PLAGUED WITH PROBLEMS
On March 3, 1999, the US Department of Labor began accepting a new system for accepting computer-generated ETA 9035 Labor Condition Applications by fax. The Department of Labor proclaimed that applicants could now expect to receive responses as quickly as one minute. Unfortunately, the system has failed not only to deliver on this promise, but, in some cases, appears to be slower than the old system. However, once the system is working properly, it promises to be of great benefit to H-1B applicants. 
Under the new system, the Department of Labor is freely distributing its Form Filler software on its web site (linked from our Documents Collection at http://www.visalaw.com/docs) that will allow LCA petitions to be created and printed out on a laser printer. The form is then signed by the employer and faxed to either the Philadelphia DOL region (for all applicants in the DOL regions in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta) or San Francisco (all other regions). Other regions are not yet included in the system. If the application is accepted, the approval will be faxed back to the applicant rather than mailed. Also, if the application is rejected, the DOL will send a fax indicating the reasons for rejection.
The DOL believes the new system will significantly reduce processing times and save resources. 
Early results have not been good, however - particularly in the eastern US. A large number of attorneys have reported not receiving back any response to applications filed under the new system and the DOL has indicated that it has had problems with its system believing it has properly faxed a response when, in fact, nothing has been sent. Both the east coast and the west coast systems have also gone down at various points in the last few weeks.
The faxback service will no doubt come as some relief, however, to applicants for H-1B visas who are filing at the California Service Center. LCA processing at the DOL office in San Francisco was largely shut down for the first quarter of the calendar year. Unable to solve the problem, the DOL is hoping the new faxback system will be a workaround until the old system is fixed.
The US Department of Labor has supplied the American Immigration Lawyers Association a list of tips for successful filing:
What is submitted – 
Submit ONE application only 
Do not include a cover sheet 
Do not attach a G-28 
Do not submit supporting documents 
Fonts –
Used the standardized font in the Form Filler system. If the form is completed by hand, use UPPER CASE block letters.
Fax Numbers –
Be sure to put the correct fax number in Box 4 on the form. Apparently, many people are putting a phone number here rather than a fax number. Also, the fax machine has to be on 24 hours a day.
The Employer Control Number –
Employers can use their own numeric codes on the forms to help identify matters. Any number up to six digits can be used, but be sure to use the same number on each of the two pages of the form.
Size of the page – 
Apparently some people are having a problem with pages being reduced to a quarter of a page when it prints. The problem can be remedied by installing HP Printing drivers for the HP Laser Jet Series II. This driver can be downloaded from the HP web site at www.hp.com. You do not need to have an HP printer to set up an HP printer driver on your computer. You would need to choose the HP printer driver as the default driver prior to printing out the form.
Copies – 
Photocopies will generally be unreadable by the LCA fax system. Use originals.
Punctuation Marks –
Do not use punctuation marks like dashes or slashes
Finally, the DOL is recommending either turning off the fax headers on the fax machine or faxing the form upside down since the header information can interfere with the transmission. [Editor’s Note: Not using this information is actually a violation of Federal Law so be careful. Better to fax upside down in our opinion].