How to File the Perfect PERM Application

In this video attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses how to file the perfect PERM application.

What is PERM?

The Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) is the system used by immigration to process labor certifications, which is the first step certain foreign nationals must take in order to obtain an EB-2 or EB-3 visa immigrant visa.

As part of the PERM process, the petitioning employer must go through a series of recruitment activities to test the labor market before filing a labor certification application. If, during the recruitment process, the employer finds that there is not a sufficient number of able, qualified, and willing applicants, whether U.S. citizens or permanent residents, then the employer can submit a PERM labor certification application.

Building the Perfect PERM application

The first thing you will need to do to file the perfect PERM application is to request a prevailing wage determination for the position offered. The employer must also craft the perfect job description for the position.

The second thing that you will need to do is to draft advertisements to test the labor market prior to filing the labor certification application. This process is required to ensure that there are no able, qualified, and willing applicants (US citizens or permanent residents) to fill the position.

The third thing that you will need to do is follow the recruitment schedule as to what advertisements must be placed and where. If you do not follow the recruitment schedule closely this could compromise the entire PERM application.

After all of these steps are completed, the next step is for the employer to file ETA Form 9089 with the Department of Labor. During this process the employer must prove that:

  1. There is not a sufficient number of U.S. workers who are able, qualified, and willing to accept the job offer in question at the prevailing wage for that occupation in the area where the employer intends the foreign worker to take the job; and
  2. By employing the foreign worker, neither the wages nor the working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers will be adversely affected.

If all goes well, you will receive an approved certification from the Department of Labor. Your employer can then use that certification to file Form I-140 Petition for Immigrant Worker.

For more information about the PERM process please visit our website.

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