Editorial Note on Part 655
Editorial Note: Nomenclature changes to part 655 appear at 71 FR 35521, 35522, June 21, 2006.

§ 655.420 Application filing requirements. An employer seeking to hire CW-1 workers must electronically file a *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* with the NPC designated by the OFLC Administrator. This section provides the procedures an employer must follow when filing. ( a ) *What to file.* An employer seeking a TLC must file a completed *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* (Form ETA-9142C and the appropriate appendices and valid PWD), and all supporting documentation and information required at the time of filing under this subpart. Applications that are incomplete at the time of submission will be returned to the employer without review.
( b ) *Timeliness.* ( 1 ) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, a completed *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* must be filed no more than 120 calendar days before the employer's date of need.
( 2 ) If the employer is seeking a TLC to extend the employment of a CW-1 worker, a completed *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* must be filed no more than 180 calendar days before the date on which the CW-1 status expires.
( c ) *Location and methods of filing* — ( 1 ) *Electronic filing.* The employer must file the *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* and all required supporting documentation with the NPC using the electronic method(s) designated by the OFLC Administrator. The NPC will return, without review, any application submitted using a method other than the designated electronic method(s), unless the employer submits with the application a statement of the need to file by mail or indicates that it already submitted such a statement to NPWC during the same fiscal year.
( 2 ) *Filing by mail.* Employers that are unable to file electronically, either due to lack of internet access or physical disability precluding electronic filing, may file the application by mail. The mailed application must include a statement indicating the need to file by mail as indicated above. The NPC will return, without review, mailed applications that do not contain such a statement. OFLC will publish the address for mailed applications in the instructions to Form ETA-9142C.
( d ) *Original signature and acceptance of electronic signatures.* An electronically filed *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* must contain an electronic (scanned) copy of the original signature of the employer (and that of the employer's authorized attorney or agent, if the employer is represented by an attorney or agent) or, in the alternative, use a verifiable electronic signature method, as directed by the OFLC Administrator. If submitted by mail, the *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* must bear the original signature of the employer and, if applicable, the employer's authorized attorney or agent.
( e ) *Requests for multiple positions.* An employer may request certification of more than one position on its *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* as long as all CW-1 workers will perform the same services or labor under the same terms and conditions, in the same occupation, during the same period of employment, and at a location (or locations) covered by the application.
( f ) *Scope of application.* ( 1 ) A *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* must be limited to places of employment within the Commonwealth.
( 2 ) In a single application filing, an association or other organization of employers is not permitted to file a *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* on behalf of more than one employer-member under the CW-1 program.
( g ) *Period of employment.* ( 1 ) Except as provided in paragraph (g)(2) of this section, the period of need identified in the *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* must not exceed 1 year.
( 2 ) If the employer is seeking TLC to employ a long-term CW-1 worker, the period of need identified in the *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* must not exceed 3 years.
( h ) *Return of applications based on USCIS CW-1 cap notice.* ( 1 ) Except as provided in paragraph (h)(3) of this section, if USCIS issues a public notice stating that it has received a sufficient number of CW-1 petitions to meet the statutory numerical limit on the total number of foreign nationals who may be issued a CW-1 permit or otherwise granted CW-1 status for the fiscal year, the OFLC Administrator must return without review any *CW-1 Applications for Temporary Employment Certification* with dates of need in that fiscal year received on or after the date that the OFLC Administrator provides the notice in paragraph (h)(2) of this section.
( 2 ) The OFLC Administrator will announce the return of future *CW-1 Applications for Temporary Employment Certification* with dates of need in the fiscal year for which the cap is met with a notice on the OFLC's website. This notice will be effective on the date of its publication on the OFLC's website and will remain valid for the fiscal year unless: ( i ) USCIS issues a public notice stating additional CW-1 permits are available for the fiscal year; and
( ii ) The OFLC Administrator publishes a new notice announcing that additional TLCs may be granted in the fiscal year.
( 3 ) After the notice that OFLC will return future *CW-1 Applications for Temporary Employment Certification,* the OFLC Administrator will continue to process *CW-1 Applications for Temporary Employment Certification* filed before the effective date of the suspension notice and will continue to permit the filing of *CW-1 Applications for Temporary Employment Certification* by employers who identify in the *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* that the employment of all CW-1 workers employed under the *CW-1 Application for Temporary Employment Certification* will be exempt from the statutory numerical limit on the total number of foreign nationals who may be issued a CW-1 permit or otherwise granted CW-1 status.