The Labor Condition Application (LCA) is a mandatory requirement for all the U.S. employers sponsoring workers on H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 visas. It ensures wage transparency and confirms that hiring foreign workers won’t affect the working conditions of other U.S. employees.  

Once the beneficiary gets selected in the H-1B lottery, employers must file the LCA by submitting Form ETA-9035E via the Department of Labor’s FLAG system. H-1B petitions can be filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services only when they receive an LCA certification from DOL, which normally takes 7-10 business days. It is extremely important to file an LCA in a timely manner with accurate information as any noncompliance will lead to serious legal and financial consequences.  

This article will provide you with a detailed overview of all the required fields in the Labor Condition Application, guiding you in completing the application.

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How to file a Labor Condition Application: 5 Steps

• Determine the Prevailing Wage: Determine the correct prevailing wage for the position using credible sources such as the National Prevailing Wage Center determinations or the OFLC Wage Search Database.  
• Prepare and Complete Form ETA-9035E: Complete Form ETA-9035E with all the required information and double check to ensure all information is accurate.  
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• Post Required Notices of LCA Filings: Before submitting the LCA to the Department of Labor, post two notices of LCA filing at the worksite for at least 10 days or electronically inform all employees.  
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• E-File the LCA with the Department of Labor: Submit the LCA electronically through the DOL’s Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG).  
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• Receive LCA Certification: Once you receive the certified copy of the LCA in 7-10 business days, file Form I-129 along with other supporting documents.

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Section A. Employment-Based Nonimmigrant Visa Information

The first section is about the non-immigrant visa classification for which you are filing the LCA.
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H-1B Visa
The H-1B is a nonimmigrant work visa that allows those with bachelor’s degrees and specialty occupations to work for a U.S. employer for three to six years in the country. With an H-1B, you can work for most employers either full or part-time.
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H-1B1 Visa
The H-1B1 visa is granted to the nationals of Singapore and Chile. 65,000 visas are allocated to the H-1B program, and out of this, 6,800 are reserved for the H-1B1 program. 5,400 visas are meant for Singapore and 1,400 are meant for Chile.
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E-3 Visa
The E-3 visa allows Australian citizens and their spouse to work and stay in the United States. Initially, E-3 workers are admitted for a period of 2 years, but can be renewed in 2 years increments.
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Section B. Temporary Need Information

• Job Title - Title of the job opportunity to be filled by the worker(s). Example: Software Developer
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What is a Standard Occupational Classification Code (SOC Code)?

A Standard Occupational Classification/ SOC code is a system used by the U.S. government agencies to classify and categorize different occupations. It is a unique 6-digit code that represents a specific job or occupation, with each set of digits representing a different detail about the job.  

The SOC code is used to:

1. Determine the prevailing wage for a job in a specific location.  

2. Helps establish the job role as a specialty occupation, requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher.  

3. Helps USCIS understand job duties and qualifications properly.  

4. Ensures legal compliance during DOL audits and site visits.

SOC Codes‍

According to the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, each job is assigned a unique SOC code. To make this classification system easy to understand, a structured hierarchy is followed:  

• Detailed occupation: These are the specific job roles (there are 867 of them)  
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• Broad occupations: These are detailed jobs that are grouped together (459 groups)  
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• Minor groups: These are the categories that group similar broad occupations based on common fields or functions (98 groups)  
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• Major groups: This is the highest level, that represents general industries such as technology, healthcare, and education. (23 groups)

Let's consider, you have to look up SOC code for Graphic designers, this is how the classification of codes work:  

The SOC code for major groups (Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations) is 27-0000 SOC code for minor group (Art and Design Workers) is 27-1000 SOC code for Broad occupation (Designers) is 27-1020
The ultimate SOC code for detailed occupation (Graphic Designers) is 27-1024.00 ‍  

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• SOC Occupational Title (ONET/ OES): Employer must enter the job title that is associated with the SOC/ ONet code provided above.

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• Is this a full-time position? Select Yes or No depending on the role. It is important to note that employers cannot include full-time and part-time positions together in a single LCA as doing so may result in LCA denial.
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• Period of Employment (Start Date/ End Date): Employer has to provide the Beginning Date and Ending Date of the position. As Per 20 CFR 655.730(b), an LCA shall be submitted no earlier than six months before the beginning date of the period of employment.  

The ending date of employment cannot be more than three years from submission of the LCA for H-1B and H-1B1 and two years for E-3 LCAs and H-1B1 extensions.

• ‍Worker positions needed (number of nonimmigrant workers): As an employer, you must indicate the total number of worker positions requested and mention the applicable category in each of the boxes.

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Section C.  Employer Information

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Legal Business Name: The correct legal name of the employer (e.g. business, person, association, firm, corporation, partnership, or organization) must be provided while filing the application.  

Trade Name/Doing Business As (DBA): DBA is the name company uses in their day-to-day operations, and it is different from its legal name.  

Address 1, Address 2, City, State, Postal Code, Country, Province, Telephone Number, Extension: Employer should provide the appropriate point of contact information with all the necessary details.  

Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN): A FEIN or an Employer Identification Number (EIN), is issued by the Internal Revenue Service to entities that do business in the United States. It is a unique nine-digit corporate ID number that is used to identify business entities.  

NAICS Code: The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is used by the United States, Canada, and Mexico to classify businesses by industry. Each business is classified into a six-digit NAICS code number based on the primary business activity.

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Section D. Employer Point of Contact Information

This section must be filled by an employee of the company who has the authority to handle labor certification matters. It is important to understand that this person must not be an agent or attorney- unless they directly work for the company.  

For example: HR managers/directors, Talent acquisition manager, operations manager etc. can fill this section.

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Section E. Attorney or Agent Information

This section includes the attorney or agent information, and employers must complete this section only if an attorney or an agent is involved in the process of completing this application. Else, you can mark “No” in the first question and can continue to the next section of the application.

The attorney/agent information in this Section, specifically the name, telephone number, and email address, must be different from the employer’s point of contact information in Section D, unless the attorney is an employee of the employer.

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Section F. Employment and Wage Information

This section includes all the information about the place(s) of employment and wages offered for the requested position. A place of employment means the worksite of the H-1B worker. Employer must ensure that all the intended places of employment, including those of short duration, are mentioned. If the LCA is submitted non-electronically, attachments to the LCA are permitted for completion of all the locations.

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a. Place of Employment

• Enter the estimated number of workers that will perform work at this place of employment under the LCA: provide the number of workers needed as per the number mentioned in Section-B.
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• Indicate whether the worker(s) subject to this LCA will work at another company’s (client’s) location. If yes, then select yes.  
  
• If “Yes” to question 2, provide the legal business name of the secondary entity.
  

• Address 1, Address 2, City, County, State/District/Territory, Postal code: Employer has to provide all the necessary details about the place of employment.
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• Wage Rate Paid to Nonimmigrant Workers: Each worksite location must have a corresponding wage rate paid to nonimmigrant workers. Employers should provide the wage rate as per the wage cycle (hour/week/biweekly/month/year) followed.
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  According to DOL regulations, the actual wage for a job at your company is the wage rate you pay other employees with similar experience and qualifications who are performing the same job as the non-immigrant worker. It is not the average of the wage rates paid to all workers employed in the occupation.
  
  You can determine the actual wage by considering length and type of work experience of other employees, experience of the non-citizen, job qualifications, educational background, class rank, job responsibilities and actual duties, and specialized knowledge in a specific area within the field.
  
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Prevaling wage rate ensures that non-immigrant workers are not adversely affecting the wages of U.S. workers. It helps in determining the average pay for a job in a specific area, which employers can find through official sources like the NPWC.  

‍Prevailing Wage Rate: The employer must provide the prevailing wage rate for the job mentioned. The prevailing wage is typically determined using data from credible sources such as the Department of Labor’s OFLC wage library or National Prevailing Wage Center determinations.
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As an employer, you can determine the prevailing Wage Rate in three ways:

1. Request a formal prevailing wage determination (PWD) from the DOL by submitting the job description via an online system.  
2. Review the DOL’s wage data and determine the appropriate occupation and wage level on your own.  
3. Use a private wage survey that meets the DOL guidelines. You can either conduct your own wage or you can purchase a survey from a firm that collects and analyzes wage data.
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Employers must fill the next section of the Form based on the source of prevailing wage. It is important to note that out of these 3 options, only one must be completed.

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• CBA: Collective Bargaining Agreement: It is a negotiation process between an employer and a group of employees to discuss pay, hours, benefits, and other important work-related rules. It helps maintain transparency to facilitate a better work environment.  
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• DBA: Davis-Bacon Act - It is a U.S. law that requires contractors and subcontractors working on federally funded construction projects such as highways, bridges, or buildings to compensate their workers at least the local prevailing wage. It helps prevent the exploitation of workers, by compensating them fairly.  
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• SCA: Also known as the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act is a U.S. labor law that makes sure that workers employed on federal service contracts like cleaning, security, or maintenance get paid fairly and have access to all the benefits.

Section G. Employer Labor Condition Statements

To maintain documentation supporting that the following four main labor conditions have been met:

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Section H. Additional Employer Labor Condition Statements: H-1B Employers ONLY

a. Subsection 1

• Is the employer H-1B dependent?
  One can determine if an employer is H-1B dependent or not based on the ratio of number of H-1B employees to the total employees. An employer is considered H-1B-dependent if it has:

• 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees and at least eight H-1B nonimmigrant workers; or
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• 26-50 full-time equivalent employees and at least 13 H-1B nonimmigrant workers; or
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• 51 or more full-time equivalent employees of whom 15 percent or more are H-1B nonimmigrant workers.
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• Is the employer a willful violator? – A Petitioning employer will be a willful violator if he/she was found to have committed a willful violation or a misrepresentation of material fact during the five years preceding the date of the LCA (and after October 20, 1998).
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• If employer marks “No” and was found, prior to the date of filing, to have committed a willful violation or a misrepresentation, the submitted LCA shall be deemed invalid and may not be used in support of a new H-1B petition or extension of an H-1B petition  

• If “Yes” to either question 1 or 2, will the employer use this application only to support H-1B petitions or extensions of status for exempt H-1B nonimmigrants?  
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• If “Yes” to an exemption in Item H.3, is exception based on either $60,000 or higher annual wage, master's degree or higher in related specialty, or both?  
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• If marked “Master’s Degree or higher in related specialty” in Item H.4, employer must complete and attach Appendix A.

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‍b. Subsection 2

H-1B Dependent Employers and Willful Violators must agree to the following by attesting in subsection 2.  

• No Displacement
• No Secondary Displacement
• Recruitment and Hiring
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Section I. Public Disclosure Information

Public disclosure information will be kept at either: Employer’s principal place of business or Place of employment

Employers have to select one of the two options in this section based on the place where they are maintaining the public disclosure information.

If the employer decides to store the public access file electronically, the employer must make the file available and accessible for government or public inspection upon request, at the particular location(s) provided in Section I of Form ETA-9035.

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Section J. Notice of Obligations

For electronic filing, the person with authority to sign as the employer must sign and date the application immediately upon receipt of the certified application and before submission to USCIS

For non-electronic filing, the person with authority to sign as the employer must sign and date the application prior to submission.

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Section K. LCA Preparer

Complete this section only if the preparer of the LCA is a person other than the one in Section D (Employer Point of Contact) or Section E (Attorney/Agent) of the LCA.

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Summing Up

The H-1B registration for FY 2026 has ended, and petition filing has begun on April 1, 2025. It is important to understand the filing procedure for the Labor Condition Application as it is a mandatory requirement for employers who want to hire foreign skilled workers under H-1B, H-1B1, and E3 visas. The main purpose of an LCA is to promote wage transparency and ensure that the hiring of foreign workers will not affect the working conditions of other U.S. employees. It has important information such as employer and job details, wage information, worksite details, SOC code classification, and other essential information related to the job role.  

Employers can file the LCA only after the beneficiary gets selected in the H-1B lottery and it must be filed no earlier than 6 months before the intended start date of employment.

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Managing LCA compliance can be tricky, but OnBlick helps you stay LCA compliant with USCIS guidelines through every step of the process. Our SOC code predictor help you choose the most accurate job classification by analyzing trusted data from credible sources such as O*Net/FLC and Data/BLS.gov. Book your complimentary consultation today to simplify your H-1B filings!

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