What Is the PERM Labor Certification Recruitment Requirement?

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The road to obtaining an approved PERM Labor Certification application can be long and winding. It is, however, a required path many employers must take to hire foreign national workers permanently as many of the most popular employment-based visas require it prior to filing an I-140. The PERM process is said to be in place to protect jobs for U.S. workers as well as prevent things like foreign job candidates from being taken advantage of by offering things like subpar wages. In order to successfully navigate the PERM Labor Certification process, an employer must complete certain required steps. One of the main steps includes undertaking a PERM recruitment period. We will discuss what is actually required during this recruitment period.

What is the PERM Recruitment Requirement?

A PERM Labor Certification issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) grants an employer the ability to hire a foreign worker for permanent work in the U.S. The PERM Labor certification is obtained from the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the DOL. Before being granted a labor certification, the employer must conduct a PERM recruitment process for the available job position.

The PERM recruitment process is in-place to help USCIS feel confident that there are not sufficient U.S. workers able, willing, qualified, and available to fill the available job position. The specific recruitment efforts required of an employer will largely rest on whether the position is considered to be a professional or non-professional one. Deciding which category a job position falls into will dictate the minimum education level required of an applicant. It will also dictate the minimum recruitment efforts required for an employer to successfully fulfill the recruitment requirement for the PERM process.

For a job opportunity that is considered to be professional, the U.S. employer will need to place a job order with the State Wage Agencies (SWA) in the area of potential employment for 30 days. Furthermore, the employer will need to place two print advertisements on two different Sundays in a newspaper of general circulation. Should the area be rural and lacking a regular Sunday newspaper, the employer may publish the ad in a newspaper with wide circulation. Furthermore, the ad may alternatively be published in a professional journal if the job opportunity requires either an advanced degree or specialized skillset.

In addition to the newspaper publication requirement, the employer must take at least three additional recruitment steps. These steps must be selected from a list of ten (10) options that are provided by the DOL. The recruitment options are:

• Job fairs
• Employer’s website
• Job search website other than the employer’s
• On-campus recruiting
• Trade or professional organizations/publications
• Private employment firms
• Employee referral programs with incentives
• Campus placement offices
• Local and ethnic newspapers
• Radio and television advertisements

For those job positions that are categorized as non-professional, the recruitment requirements are not as involved. A job order must be placed with the local SWA that serves the area of intended employment for thirty (30) days. Additionally, the employer must place two advertisements for two different Sundays in the newspaper.

Immigration Law Attorneys

If you should have any questions or need more information about the ways in which the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Laws may impact you, your family, your friends or your colleagues, please contact the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Lawyers at the NPZ Law Group – VISASERVE – U.S. Immigration and Nationality Lawyers by e-mailing us at info@visaserve.com or by calling us at 201-670-0006 (x104). You can also visit our Law Firm’s website at www.visaserve.com