PERM Labor Certification

What is PERM?

PERM (Program Electronic Review Management) is an electronic processing system for filing labor certification applications for employment based green card. Under the PERM system, labor certification applications are filed electronically and directly with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). A permanent labor certification issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) allows an employer to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the United States. The employment-based preference categories that require PERM Labor Certification are EB-2 (other than a National Interest Waiver) and EB-3.

General Requirements

In most instances, before the U.S. employer can submit an immigration petition to the USCIS, the employer must obtain a certified labor certification application from the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The DOL must certify to the USCIS that there are not sufficient U.S. workers able, willing, qualified and available to accept the job opportunity in the area of intended employment and that employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.

As an employee, in order to qualify to begin the PERM process, the following requirements must first be met:

• You must have an existing permanent job offer by a U.S. employer
• The offered wages are required to be equal or above the DOL prevailing wage. DOL will subject this to the specific position.
• The local job market has been analyzed for qualified candidates. This is required to provide evidence that U.S. workers are unable to complete the requirements of the position, meaning that no qualified native workers are available for the position. Supplementary documentation relating to recruiting efforts must be made available if requested.
• The U.S. employer is obligated to construct and maintain an audit file with additional proof of attempts at recruitment