A GUIDE THROUGH THE UNITED STATES’ PERM PROCESS AND PRIORITY DATE

UNITED STATES PERM PROCESS AND PRIORITY DATE

Introduction

United States Perm Process and Priority Date government has made it a rule that companies hiring specific foreign workers need to get approval from the Department of Labor before they can hire them for a long-term job or before they can sponsor them to become permanent residents. To get this approval, the company must go through the PERM process and prove that there aren’t enough qualified US workers who want to do the job and are willing to get paid the usual wage for that job. The whole point of this approval and PERM process is to make sure that bringing in foreign workers doesn’t hurt job chances, pay, and working conditions for Americans.

With this in mind, it is clear that the PERM Labor Certification process is a key part of the US process for getting work visas. This means employers have to show that they cannot find any US workers for a job before they bring in someone from another country. To do this, they need to understand how it all goes, including how long it takes to get the visa (and the PERM priority date). This knowledge is useful for planning when to hire, making sure they are not setting their hopes too high, and looking into other ways to get someone into the country if they need to.

Getting to know about Perm Process and Priority Date

The PERM process, which stands for “Program Electronic Review Management,” is a bunch of steps that an employer needs to go through to show that no US citizen worker can do the job and that they won’t lower pay by hiring people from other countries for less than what a US citizen would get. Whether this actually works is up for debate.

What is key to remember is that if you want to get a green card through your employer in the EB-2 or EB-3 category, you have to follow the thick and thin of the PERM rules. This means you have to run a job ad to let people in the area know about the job and also make sure you are paying the right wage for the job in that area, as per the state and federal government’s rules.

After you have done all that, you can then file a form with the US Department of Labor. Sometimes, the Department of Labor will check your form to make sure you followed all the PERM steps. Once the form is approved by the Department of Labor, you have to get it in on the Form I-140 to get the alien’s green card from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

Workers are required to go through the PERM process.

Not every job-based visa application needs to go through the PERM process. PERM can be expensive, hard, and take a lot of time, so employers need to check if an applicant fits into a category that doesn’t need PERM before they start the green card process.

Here are the categories that need a PERM labor certification before you can apply for an immigrant visa or change your status:

• EB-2: Except for cases where national interest is involved, all EB-2 categories need PERM. You can avoid the PERM process by filing an EB-2 National Interest Waiver petition.
• EB-3: All applicants for EB-3 visas, which are for skilled workers, need PERM.

Workers not required to go through the PERM process

Here are the types of visas for workers that don’t need a PERM:

• EB-1: This covers all EB-1 types, like EB-1A for people with extraordinary skills, EB-1B for top researchers or professors, and EB-1C for employees moving between companies internationally.
• EB-2: Any EB-2 petitions that are about the national interest.
• EB-4: This includes special immigrants like religious workers and those who got their visas through VAWA, and EB-4 visas for certain jobs.
• EB-5: Visas for investors.
• Family petitions and jobs are listed in Schedule A.

The demands of the Perm Process and Priority Date

Going through the PERM process requires the employer to promise some things and share certain details when filing a job certification form. The employer has to be ready to pay the foreign worker the average salary for the area. The employer has to really try to find a good candidate without making the job requirements so strict that only the person they want can fit the criteria. The job they are offering has to be full-time and the job tasks should be typical for the job.

• The info required in the PERM process.

The application for a work visa includes details about the company hiring, the person applying for the job, and the job they are hoping to get. The company hiring needs to show they followed the rules correctly. This means they have to keep careful records of every step they follow when looking for a new employee. They also have to share information about their company and show they can actually pay the person the right rate for the job.

The person applying needs to share a lot of info about their education and past jobs. They might also need to send in letters from their old jobs, including when they worked there, their job title, and what they did. The work visa application also needs to talk about the job itself. It should clearly explain what the job is, what the person will do, the work environment, and what they will get paid, including any benefits.

• The recruitment demands.

To prove there are no US citizens available, willing, and qualified for a job, the employer needs to follow specific steps. These steps are required for all jobs, but some are mandatory and others optional, depending on the job’s classification.

The mandatory steps include:

• Starting a 30-day job order with the state workforce office.
• Posting a notice about hiring a foreign worker or with a union for the job.
• Putting up 2 Sunday ads in a local newspaper.

These steps need to be finished 30 days before applying for a work visa. Also, the job order must start 60 days before the visa application.

Optional steps depend on the job’s classification, but for professional jobs, at least three out of ten steps must be completed 30 days before applying for the work visa. These steps include job fairs, employer websites, job search sites, on-campus recruiting, trade or professional groups, private employment agencies, employee referral programs, campus placement offices, and local and ethnic newspapers.

The auditing role of the DOL – Perm Process and Priority Date

Getting audited by the Department of Labor (DOL) is pretty common but not exactly fun. Since the Labor Certification Application is filed on its own, without any extra proof, the DOL uses audits to make sure employers are sticking to the rules. Right now, they are checking up on about 37% of these applications every year. Plus, they might look into a petition to dig deeper into specific details of the application. And get this, they could even come back five years after the application is approved. That is why it is super important to keep detailed records of every step in the PERM process and keep them in an audit file right after you file the PERM Labor Certification Application.

If the employer needs someone with skills or qualifications that are way above what is usually needed for the job, the DOL might ask for a business necessity letter during the audit. This letter has to be really well thought out and written to show why the employer really needs someone with more experience, skills, or education than what the DOL usually expects for the job.

The PERM priority date – Perm Process and Priority Date

Knowing your priority date is super important if you are trying to get a visa for work and there is a huge wait. Your priority date tells you when you can start applying for a green card, which is your ticket to becoming a permanent resident in the US. The sooner your priority date is, the sooner you can fill out the final step of the process, the I-485 form. So, it is key to understand how your priority date is set and how to keep it up during the lengthy green card journey.

As earlier stated, all EB-2 (except for National Interest Waivers) and EB-3 petitions for permanent residency need a PERM labor certification. This is to prove that 1) there aren’t enough able, willing, and qualified US workers available for the job, and 2) hiring an alien for the job won’t lower the wages or working conditions of US workers doing similar jobs.

If the PERM labor certification is given the approval, it is good for 180 days from the day it is approved. The day the PERM application is filed will set the PERM priority date for the alien. Even though the PERM filing date decides the PERM priority date, that date won’t stay good unless the I-140 form is filed within the 180-day window of the PERM labor certification.

How to keep a PERM priority date

A PERM labor certification is only good for the person who needs it and the job they are applying for. Once a PERM labor certification is approved, it can’t be used by anyone else or for a different job. However, the date the PERM labor certification was approved can help someone looking for a job with a different employer. As we talked about before, if a PERM labor certification is used to get an approved I-140, it gives the person a set date that is considered the earliest (PERM priority date). This PERM priority date stays even if they get another labor certification for the same job.

It is key to remember that to keep the PERM priority date from a previous labor certification/I-140, the new job doesn’t have to be the same or related. For example, Employer A could get the approval for a labor certification and then an I-140 for someone to work as a junior grocery bagger. Then, Employer B gets the approval for a labor certification and I-140 for the same person to work as a chief neurosurgeon. Even though these jobs are totally different in what they need and what they do, the person can still keep the PERM priority date to later work as a cashier.

Highlighted points on the PERM priority date

For job-related green card applications in the EB-2 or EB-3 visa groups, the PERM priority date is when the Department of Labor gets and approves the Labor Certification Application for it to start working on. This date matters a lot because people from other countries in the EB-2 and EB-3 groups have to wait until their PERM priority date is up before they can switch their immigration status from their current one to that of a legal permanent resident. The Department of State keeps track of the PERM priority date for all EB-2 and EB-3 applications every month and updates the visa bulletin with this info.

Get help!

At Gehi and Associates, we are really good at helping businesses and people get work visas. Our team has worked with all sorts of companies, from insurance firms and tech giants to small business owners, construction companies, and new start-ups. We have also helped big companies get green cards for skilled workers like farm managers and factory bosses, as well as for professionals like IT experts, psychologists, and financial analysts.

Our immigration lawyers give you all the support you need to make you go through the Perm Process and Priority Date successfully. Reach out to us today to find out what we can do for you!