Backlog Elimination Centers ("BECs")

The two centralized processing facilities set up by the U.S. Department of Labor to process older-style, pre-PERM labor certifications (both traditional recruitment and Reduction-in-Recruitment) after the PERM program was implemented and the old program shut down. The State Workforce Agencies ("SWAs") and the Regional Certifying Officers under the old labor certification system had a tremendous backlog of cases file under the older method, and the centralized BECs were the Department of Labor's chosen method of processing these cases in an efficient manner. By the end of 2007, they had largely completed their work and were effectively shut down.