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INFORMATION CENTER
Immigrant Visas
Employment-Based Sponsorship
In most immigrant visa cases - except the ones listed in the exemption category such as alien of extraordinary or national interest, etc. - a US employer is required to obtain an alien labor certification through the Program Electronics Record Management (PERM) System from the Department of Labor (DOL) for the foreign national for the position offered.
The employer, through PERM filing, is seeking a determination from the DOL that there is an insufficient availability of qualified US workers for the position offered in the area of intended employment. By certifying the application, the DOL is making an official determination that the admission of the foreign national named in the application will not adversely affect the job opportunities, wage level, and working conditions of US workers. This will serve as the foundation for the named foreign national to obtain immigrant visa.
Since the implementation of the PERM system on March 28, 2005, Braverman & Lin, P.C. has already obtained a number of PERM approvals for EB2 IT professionals.
PROGRAM ELECTRONIC RECORD MANAGEMENT (PERM)
Pre-filing Requirement:
- Obtain a Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) that is specific to your job opportunity from the State Workforce Agency (SWA) in charge of the area of the intended employment. The employer is required to file its application or to commence the pre-filing requirement during the validity period of the PWD.
- Conduct the pre-filing recruitment efforts, which consist of the following:
- Employer must place a job order with the SWA. Job order is to post the job opportunity in the State's job bank and the State will refer job applicants to contact employer for the position opening.
- Employer must place two classified ads in the Sunday edition of a newspaper that is most appropriate for the position in question.
- If your job opportunity is a professional job, employer must also perform any three of the following recruitment steps (one of the recruitment efforts below must be done within 30 days from the date of filing the application).
- Job fairs.
- Employer's website.
- Job search website other than the employer's.
- On campus recruitment
- Trade or professional organizations.
- Private employment firms.
- Employee referral programs with incentives.
- Campus placement offices.
- Local and ethnic newspaper.
- TV and Radio ads.
- For all recruitment efforts, employer must:
- keep a record of every single applicant for the job opportunity,
- provide lawful reasons for rejecting the applicants, and
- establish a recruitment report to detail the employer's recruitment efforts, number of responses, and reasons for disqualifying US workers.
- If there has been a layoff in the business (6 months prior to the filing of the application), the employer must attest that it has notified and considered those potentially qualified laid-off US workers for the job opportunity.
After completing the above steps, the employer will be ready to file the application electronically. Keep in mind that the above recruitment steps will take at least 30 to 60 days to complete and may take longer. If you are interested in filing under the PERM system, you must consult an attorney for assistance.
If you have a labor certification pending or are preparing to file one, you should contact us to discuss your matter.
Once the labor certification application is approved, the employer will be able to file an I-140 visa petition with the USCIS.
- Alien of Extraordinary Ability (EB1)
- Outstanding Professor or Researcher (EB1)
- Multinational Executive or Manager (EB1)
- National Interest Waiver (EB2)
- Schedule A Occupations: Professional Nurses, Physical Therapists, etc.
- Immigrant Investor (EB5)
