Labor certification is the process whereby it must be established that there are no qualified U.S. workers willing to fill the position being offered to the applicant. In most employment based green card applications labor certification is the first step of the process.
On March 28, 2005 the Federal Department of Labor implemented a new labor certification process entitled PERM which has significantly reduced the time involved in processing a labor certification. The PERM Labor Certification program is an automated process which takes 4-5 months to adjudicate. Although we are still learning about this new program it is clear that the entire labor certification process has changed to require advertising in advance of the filing of a labor certification. With this in mind the first step in the process involves preparing and implementing a recruitment plan prior to filing a PERM based labor certification application.
The Department of Labor has specifically stated that a successful PERM labor certification application for a professional will require at least 2 Sunday advertisements in area’s newspaper of general circulation AND 3 other types of recruitment. A typical advertising campaign for a professional position will include most of the following:
2 newspaper advertisements in the largest newspaper of general circulation in your area of proposed employment.
- Registration of the position on a job search website.
- 1 advertisement in a specific journal that targets the profession.
- Registration of the position with the State Workforce Agency.
- Listing of the position on the employer website.
- Advertising the position at trade shows, job fairs and/or with campus recruitment agencies.
- Local or ethnic newspaper advertisements.
- Posting of the job opportunity at the place of employment for 10 consecutive business days.
All recruitment efforts must be engaged in between 30 and 180 days before the filing of the labor certification application. If the Department of Labor is satisfied that the advertising meets the PERM guidelines and that the employer is unable to find qualified U.S. workers, a labor certification will be issued. It is expected that the entire labor certification process, including advertising, should take 4-5 months to complete.
If you would like to explore your specific green card options please send a request to us at:
Leibl and Kirkwood PC
12250 El Camino Real, Suite 350
San Diego, CA 92130
Tel. (858) 481-5211
Fax. (858) 481-7271