Certain employment-based immigrant and non-immigrant visa categories require labor certification through the Department of Labor in addition to the filing of a visa petition with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Labor certification is the Department of Labor’s determination that no qualified United States workers are available to fill the position that an employer seeks to offer to a foreign national.

The Department of Labor’s application procedure for labor certification is called Program Electronic Review Management, or PERM. PERM is a system that became effective March 28, 2005. All PERM applications must now be submitted through an electronic filing process.

As part of this process the employer must recruit for United States employees according to the Department of Labor’s regulations. When filing under PERM, an employer will generally be required to follow these steps:

1. Obtain a prevailing wage determination from the State Workforce Agency (SWA);
2. Place a job order with the SWA;
3. Post a notice of the position at the job site;
4. Place newspaper advertisements for the position; and
5. Interview candidates.

The employer may also be required to complete additional recruitment steps depending on the nature of the position.

PERM statistics for FY 2012 released by the Department of Labor

Individual PERM labor certification is a complex process involving numerous steps that must be completed within a specific time frame prior to filing the application. It is important for the employer to fully understand the new requirements for labor certification as applications are now subject to random audits under PERM.

In order to maximize accuracy and efficiency, the Allott Immigration Law Firm assists the employer and foreign national in the recruitment process, with the filing of the PERM application, and with the visa petition following labor certification. For more detailed information on individual PERM labor certification, please contact us.