PERM & Green Cards
Employers can sponsor their employees for permanent residency through a process called PERM. There are several stages to the PERM process. The first step involves creating a future position to be filled and obtaining the prevailing wage determination for that position. The second step involves advertising that position to see if there are any available U.S. workers to fill the position. The third step involves submitting a Labor Certification to seek certification that the recruiting process was properly followed. The fourth step involves petitioning USCIS to sponsor the foreign worker.
Prevailing Wage Determination
The first step in the PERM process requires the employer to create a future position that needs to be filled - with the foreign worker to be sponsored in mind. The employer will set out qualifications for the position, such as the minimum education, experience, and skills required. The position is then submitted to the Department of Labor to request a prevailing wage for that position. Once the Department of State issues a prevailing wage determination, the employer will decide whether it wants to proceed with the next step.
Recruiting & Advertising
Once the prevailing wage determination is issued, the employer is required to advertise and recruit the position. There are strict requirements on where and how to conduct the advertising, including some mandatory methods (two Sunday newspaper ads), and some optional methods. After the advertising is done, the employer is required to wait a minimum of 30 days (known as the quiet period) for any resumes to come in. If the employer receives a qualified applicant, it is required to interview that person. If that person wants the job, the PERM process ends as the position can be filled by an available U.S. worker. If the employer does not find any qualified candidates, it can move on to the next step.
Labor Certification
Once the advertising and recruiting has been completed, the employer must file a Labor Certification outlining all the steps it took to confirm that the PERM process has been done correctly. The Department of Labor will review the application and either certify or deny it.
Visa Bulletin
The Visa Bulletin is a monthly publication by the Department of Labor that indicates someone's visa availability for that month. It is generally divided into two categories: family and employment. For the employment category, it is broken further down by country of birth and the employment-based category (EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, etc.).
Priority Date
The Priority Date is essentially the date that an employee with an approved I-140 can apply to adjust their status through USCIS or to apply for an immigrant visa at a consulate (if currently abroad). For employment-based cases, one's Priority Date is established at the time the Labor Certification is submitted to the Department of Labor. After the Labor Certification is certified and the employer's I-140 is approved, the employee can monitor their Priority Date status by checking the Visa Bulletin every month. If the Priority Date is current that month, the employee can apply to adjust their status, or apply for an immigrant visa abroad.
