(a) Filing requirements and required documentation. (1) An employer
may apply for a labor certification to employ an alien (who has been
employed legally as a nonimmigrant sheepherder in the United States for
at least 33 of the preceding 36 months) as a sheepherder by filing an
Application for Permanent Employment Certification form directly with
DHS, not with an office of DOL.
(2) A signed letter or letters from each U.S. employer who has
employed the alien as a sheepherder during the immediately preceding 36
months, attesting the alien has been employed in the United States
lawfully and continuously as a sheepherder for at least 33 of the
immediately preceding 36 months, must be filed with the application.
(b) Determination. An Immigration Officer reviews the application
and the letters attesting to the alien's previous employment as a
sheepherder in the United States, and determines whether or not the
alien and the employer(s) have met the requirements of this section.
(1) The determination of the Immigration Officer under this
paragraph (b) is conclusive and final. The employer(s) and the alien,
therefore, may not make use of the review procedures set forth at
Sec. Sec. 656.26 and 656.27 to appeal such a determination.
[[Page 693]]
(2) If the alien and the employer(s) have met the requirements of
this section, the Immigration Officer must indicate on the Application
for Permanent Employment Certification form the occupation, the
immigration office that made the determination, and the date of the
determination (see Sec. 656.30 for the significance of this date). The
Immigration Officer must then promptly forward a copy of the Application
for Permanent Employment Certification form, without attachments, to the
Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) Administrator.
(c) Alternative filing. If an application for a sheepherder does not
meet the requirements of this section, the application may be filed
under Sec. 656.17.
