PERM - Labor Certification Blog Entries

Green Card Through PERM, Part 1, The PERM Process

1 Green Card through PERM, Step 1 - The PERM process
    1.1 Preliminary points
        1.1.1 Most commonly used process and is based upon a permanent, full-time job offer
        1.1.2 Involves testing the labor market for a defined job
        1.1.3 Green card is for a "future job"
        1.1.4 Employment-based categories 2 and 3 (EB-2, EB-3)
        1.1.5 WE MUST act honestly and in good faith
        1.1.6 There are three steps: PERM, I-140, and I-485 OR consular processing

Updated PERM Statistics Released

The U.S. Department of Labor has released PERM statistics for the first eight months of the fiscal year that began last October. Of the 43,100 applications it processed, 27,600 (64%) were certified, 83% were for H-1B and H-1B1 visas, 44% were for IT-related fields, and 55% were for applicants from India. The minimum education requirement was an advanced degree for 51% of those certified, and a bachelor degree for 39%. The Department certified more applications in the last two months than in either of the prior three-month periods.

Debarment for not responding to PERM audit

At the October 28, 2010, stakeholder meeting with the U.S. Department of Labor, DOL discussed their increased staffing capability and a corresponding increased scrutiny of cases where the employer fails to respond to an Audit Notification letter or submits an incomplete response to such a letter. Where DOL identifies a substantial failure by the employer to provide required documentation in response to an Audit Notification letter, DOL indicated that we can expect to see more debarment and/or revocation proceedings.