You fail to reach an informal settlement agreement with the area director. You file a Notice to Contest within the required 15-day period. Your case is assigned to an administrative law judge (ALJ). Prepare a document summarizing the case you will submit to the ALJ. The document should discuss the following at a minimum: which citations and penalties you would contest, the reasoning behind each contested citation and/or penalty, documents you would bring to the hearing, individuals you would use at the hearing, how the case before the ALJ differs from the informal conference
All applicants go through a series of tests that check their level of English and knowledge of formatting styles. The applicant is also required to present a sample of writing to the Evaluation Department. If you wish to find out more about the procedure, check out the whole process.