TEGL 15-24, Change 1.pdf

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION

ADVISORY SYSTEM

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Washington, D.C. 20210

CLASSIFICATION

Foreign Labor Certification

CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL

OFLC

DATE

May 12, 2026

RESCISSIONS

None

EXPIRATION DATE

Continuing

ADVISORY: TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 15-24,

CHANGE 1

TO: STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES

STATE WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATORS

FROM: HENRY MACK, ED.D.

Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT: Change 1 to Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 15-24, Foreign

Labor Certification Grant Planning Guidance for Fiscal Year 2026

1. Purpose. To communicate allotment amounts for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 foreign labor certification grants and explain updated application requirements to State Workforce Agencies (SWA). The rest of Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 15-24 remains the same.

2. Action Requested. SWA Administrators are requested to share this guidance within their respective organizations to ensure that fiscal and programmatic staff are aware that FY 2026 allotments are available. SWAs must submit applications within 30 days of this guidance being issued. Applications must meet the application requirements detailed in Attachment I.

3. Summary and Background.

a. Summary – This Change 1 to Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 15-

24 provides updated application guidance and the SWAs’ FY 2026 grant allotments for foreign labor certification activities.

b. Background – The mission of ETA’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether there are able, willing, and qualified U.S.

workers available for a job, and whether there will be adverse impact on the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers should a labor certification be granted. The Immigration and Nationality Act and the Northern Mariana Islands U.S.

Workforce Act of 2018 (Workforce Act) assign certain responsibilities to the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) for employment-based immigration programs. The Secretary has delegated the non-enforcement responsibilities of these labor certification programs to

OFLC.

Accordingly, statutory and regulatory provisions of foreign labor certification programs administered by OFLC generally require employers seeking to hire foreign labor on a permanent or temporary basis to apply to the Secretary for a labor certification. ETA provides annual grants to each SWA based on their 3-year strategic grant plan to support required state-level foreign labor certification activities. These activities include, but are not limited to, reviewing and placing job orders (for H-2A and H-2B) and job vacancy announcements (for CW-1) to recruit U.S. workers; providing assistance to employers in the effective recruitment of U.S. workers; conducting safety inspections of employer-provided housing for H-2A agricultural workers and workers in corresponding employment;

performing prevailing practice and wage surveys used to set the wages and working standards for occupations within the state; conducting the Commonwealth of the Northern

Mariana Islands (CNMI) governor’s survey for CW-1; and conducting post-certification site visits to support employer compliance with H-2A and H-2B program requirements.

4. Content. See Attachment I for updated application guidance and Attachment II for the FY 2026 Grant Allotments.

5. General Administration. With their FY 2026 grant allotments, SWAs are responsible for carrying out foreign labor certification activities outlined in the FY 2025 – 2027 Strategic Grant

Plan (See Attachment III of TEGL 15-24, available here:

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/tegl-15-24).

6. Inquiries. SWA staff should direct all grant-related questions to OFLC at

FLC.Grant@dol.gov.

7. References.

• Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a), 1182(a)(5)(A), 1184(c), and 1188;

• Approval of Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

Islands, 48 U.S.C. 1801, 1806;

• Wagner-Peyser Act, 29 U.S.C. 49f(d);

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations at 8 Code of Federal Regulations

(CFR) Part 214;

• 20 CFR Parts 653, subpart F; 654, subpart E; 655, subparts A, B and E; 656; and 658;

• ETA H-2A Program Handbook No. 398, January 1988;

• 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and

Audit Requirements for Federal Awards;

• 2 CFR Part 2900, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, Department of Labor; and

• Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (H.R.

1968).

8. Attachment(s).

• Attachment I: FY 2026 Application Guidance

• Attachment II: FY 2026 Grant Allotments https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/tegl-15-24 mailto:FLC.Grant@dol.gov

Attachment I

FY 2026 Application Guidance

All documents specified in Attachment I (Program Planning Guidance and Information Package) of

TEGL15-24 must be provided as a new and complete application through the www.grants.gov portal according to submission requirements specified in the attachment, except for the Three-

Year Strategic Grant Plan, which is already approved and should not be resubmitted.

The following documents will still be required as part of the SWAs submission package:

• SF-424: Application for Federal Assistance, Expiration date 3/31/2029, OMB Control No.

4040-0004.

• SF-424A: Budget Information, Non-Construction Programs, Expiration Date 6/30/2028, OMB Control No. 4040-0006.

• Budget Narrative to explain the projected costs reflected in each line item of the SF424A, demonstrating how grant funds will be used.

• Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable).

SWAs should reference Attachment I of TEGL 15-24 for complete guidance, and contact OFLC at

FLC.Grant@dol.gov with any questions.

Grant Use. The expenditure period for FY 2026 FLC State Grants is October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2028.

I-1 http://www.grants.gov/

Attachment II

FY 2026 Grant Allotments

Allotment Formula.: The funding authorized for foreign labor certification state grants in the

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 was allocated to the SWAs as described below:

1. Base Allocation: With limited exceptions, a base allocation was allocated to each SWA commensurate with its base allocation for the previous fiscal year and the level of obligations made under its active foreign labor certification grants. The exceptions are comprised of

SWAs meeting each of the following criteria:

a. the SWA processed an annual average of less than five clearance orders attached to

H-2A applications during the three most recently completed fiscal years (FY 2023-

2025);

b. the SWA processed an annual average of less than five H-2B job orders during the three most recently completed fiscal years; and,

c. an annual average of less than five housing units were identified on clearance orders attached to H-2A applications processed by the SWA during the three most recently completed fiscal years.

In circumstances where a SWA’s workload met all three of these aforementioned factors, the

SWA was allocated $5,000 to support the costs associated with processing this minimal level of foreign labor certification workload. The SWAs meeting these criteria were Guam and the

Virgin Islands.

2. Workload Allocation: In addition to its base allocation, each SWA, except those meeting the criteria described above, was allocated an additional ongoing amount based on its share of the national foreign labor certification workload. Each SWA’s workload allocation was determined in the following manner:

a. One-third of the additional allocation was based on each SWA’s proportion of the estimated national H-2A housing inspection workload. This was defined as the total number of housing units identified on clearance orders attached to H-2A applications processed during the three most recently completed fiscal years (FY 2023-2025) and located in the jurisdiction of the SWA, divided by the total number of housing units identified on clearance orders attached to H-2A applications processed by all

SWAs during the three most recently completed fiscal years.

b. Two-thirds of the additional allocation was based on each SWA’s share of the national workload associated with reviewing and posting H-2A and H-2B job orders during the three most recently completed fiscal years (FY 2023 – 2025).

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• Seventy percent of this amount was allocated based on each SWA’s share of the total clearance orders attached to H-2A applications processed during the three most recently completed fiscal years (FY 2023 – 2025). For example, if SWA 1 processed five percent of the total nationwide clearance orders attached to H-2A applications processed during the three most recently completed fiscal years, then

SWA 1 would receive five percent of the funding allocated on this basis. Because

SWA reviews of clearance orders attached to H-2A applications have significantly more complex regulatory requirements than SWA reviews of H-2B job orders, a higher percentage of the available resources were allocated on the basis of clearance orders attached to H-2A applications than on H-2B job orders.

• The remaining thirty percent was allocated based on each SWA’s share of the total H-2B job orders processed during the three most recently completed fiscal years (FY 2023 – 2025). For example, if SWA 1 processed five percent of the total nationwide H-2B job orders processed during the three most recent fiscal years, then SWA 1 would receive five percent of the funding allocated based on

H-2B job orders.

3. Total Grant Allocation: The combined total of each SWA’s base allocation and ongoing workload allocation comprises the SWA’s total FY 2026 grant award. The SWA’s grant allocation may be reduced if substantial balances from prior years’ grants remain available for use.

4. Data Sources: The data sources used to determine the funding allocations are available in the

OFLC disclosure data published at www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance.

Housing unit data was derived from Form ETA-790A, Addendum B. Data from the three most recently completed fiscal years was used for the workload factors to more accurately reflect long-term trends.

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http://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance

FY 2026 Appropriations: $23,282,000

*The funding amount below must be indicated on the SF-424 and SF-424A

FY 2026 Grant:

Total $23,282,000

Alabama $210,914

Alaska $98,075

Arizona $360,747

Arkansas $400,902

California $2,211,046

CNMI $37,334

Colorado $491,477

Connecticut $209,024

Delaware $81,597

District of Columbia $5,654

Florida $1,075,646

Georgia $923,606

Hawaii $75,943

Idaho $479,169

Illinois $503,226

Indiana $216,043

Iowa $415,993

Kansas $278,771

Kentucky $633,840

Louisiana $599,408

Maine $403,426

Maryland $447,603

Massachusetts $374,690

Michigan $658,838

Minnesota $310,968

Mississippi $352,934

Missouri $309,980

Montana $494,357

Nebraska $275,802

Nevada $242,164

New Hampshire $95,306

New Jersey $514,664

New Mexico $128,856

New York $1,783,093

North Carolina $807,999

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North Dakota $565,389

Ohio $489,202

Oklahoma $169,793

Oregon $422,182

Pennsylvania $585,593

Puerto Rico $37,065

Rhode Island $90,461

South Carolina $412,080

South Dakota $299,252

Tennessee $409,853

Texas $1,135,546

Utah $301,861

Vermont $182,659

Virgin Islands $5,000

Virginia $585,455

Washington $597,365

West Virginia $67,597

Wisconsin $243,714

Wyoming $172,838

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