 Program Electronic Review Management System (PERM)
A permanent labor certification issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) allows an employer to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the United States. Applications filed on or after March 28, 2005, must be filed using the new Program Electronic Review Management System ("PERM") process and adhere to the new PERM Regulations. In most instances, before the U.S. employer can submit an immigration petition to the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the employer must obtain an approved labor certification request from the DOL's Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The DOL must certify to the USCIS that there are no qualified U.S. workers able, willing, qualified and available to accept the job at the prevailing wage for that occupation in the area of intended employment and that employment of the alien will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
The DOL processes applications for Alien Employment Certification (Form ETA Form 9089). The date the labor certification application is filed is known as the filing date and is used by USCIS and the Department of State as the priority date.
Since the implementation of PERM regulation on March 28, 2005, our office has filed many successful applications for various professions that require the foreign national to hold an advanced degree such as a U.S. Masters degree or its foreign degree equivalent. In addition, our office has successfully filed many applications in the skilled category workers.
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PERM Success Stories:
Some of the successful filings by our office include:
- Senior Software Engineers - (Employment Based 2nd Preference Category) - Cases were approved within 3 weeks.
- Senior Copywriter - (Employment Based 2nd Preference Category) - Note that the employer had only 3 employees, and the case was approved within 1 week.
- Attorney - (Employment Based 2nd Preference Category) - Case was approved within 3 weeks.
- Insurance Underwriter/Agent - (Employment Based 3rd Preference Category) - We were able to get the case approved with in short span even though there was Spanish language requirement for the position offered. This case was audited by the Department of Labor requesting the employer to establish business necessity of requiring Spanish language. Our office was able to establish the nexus between requiring Spanish language and proposed job duties.
- Civil Engineer - (Employment Based 3rd Preference Category) - The case was approved within 6 days.
- Financial Manager - (Employment Based 3rd Preference Category) - The case was approved within 2 weeks.
- Senior Customer Support Analyst - (Employment Based 3rd Preference Skilled Worker Category) - The case was approved within 2 weeks.
- Computer Technician - (Employment Based 3rd Preference Skilled Worker Category) - The case was approved within 2 weeks.
- Purchasing Manager - (Employment Based 3rd Preference Skilled Worker Category) - The case was approved within 3 weeks.
- Plant Manager - (Employment Based 3rd Preference Skilled Worker Category) - The case was approved within 3 weeks.
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How We Can Help You?
PERM process is the single most area within the immigration arena where expertise of a qualified immigration attorney comes into play. This is due to the fact that the PERM electronic online application system is hypersensitive to even harmless errors such as typing the incorrect expiration dates of prevailing wage, selecting an incorrect box while answering many "yes/no" questions, etc. In our experience, it is not only the accuracy of the PERM filings that is extremely crucial, but also the correct strategy for the particular case in question. This is because filing a PERM labor certification, in most cases, initiates the start of the cumbersome employment based green card process. The PERM application requires detailed job duties, educational requirements, training, experience, and other special capabilities the employee must possess to do the work, as well as a statement of the intending immigrant's qualifications. In addition, before submission of the PERM application, online Registration by the employer and the creation of an attorney sub-account by employer and Prevailing Wage from State Work Agency is required, and pre-filing recruitment steps must be completed and properly documented to withstand potential DOL scrutiny. Further, the employer must categorize the lawful job-related reasons for rejection of an otherwise qualified U.S. applicants, if any, and provide the number of U.S. applicants rejected in each category. Additionally, cases may also be audited by the DOL which is involves a detailed employer response.
Our office has successfully filed many multiple PERM applications and here is detailed list of how our office may help you:
- Deciding case strategy (whether the employee qualifies as an Employment Based 2nd or 3rd Preference Beneficiary);
- Whether a job is requires professional recruitment or non-professional recruitment steps [note that professional recruitment is required for any position where a Bachelor's or a higher degree is a customary requirement];
- Prevailing Wage Determination;
- Determining the best available recruitment options for professional positions;
- Keeping employers informed about their obligations to conduct good faith recruitment steps;
- Assisting employers with filing the DOL required State Workforce Agency (SWA) job orders for the mandatory 30 day period in the proposed area of intended employment;
- Advising employers regarding the preparation of the "Recruitment Report";
- Foreign degree educational evaluations;
- Maintaining records of recruitment step undertaken and advising clients regarding the retention of PERM records;
- Resolving "ability to pay" issues;
- Assisting employers with PERM online registration of the employer account and the sub-account for the attorney on www.plc.doleta.gov;
- Submitting on-line PERM application scrutinizing each and every response on the DOL ETA Form 9089;
- Assisting employers with their "Audit" response, if the case is audited;
- Assisting clients with the Post-certification steps, and
PERM is certified! Now What? The USCIS Petition [After approval of the labor certification, the employer must file an "Immigrant Petition for an Alien Worker", i.e., the Form I-140, with the USCIS. The employer then attaches the certified ETA Form 9089 to a completed USCIS Form I-140, along with the appropriate fees, and submits the package to the appropriate USCIS Service Center. The petition is filed by the employer on behalf of the foreign worker and must include the certified labor certification as well as other USCIS-specified documentation.
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