Employment based immigrants (1st through 5th preference)

Description:

1st Preference: Priority Workers (EB-1) (Persons of extraordinary ability; Outstanding professors and researchers; and Multinational executives and managers)

2nd Preference: Members of the professions holding advanced degrees or aliens of exceptional ability (EB-2)

3rd Preference: Skilled workers, professionals and other workers (EB-3)

4th Preference: Special immigrants

5th Preference: Employment creation (Investors)

Steps:

1. Filing of Application for Immigrant Worker (I-140) with U.S. CIS Service Center with jurisdiction over state of residence/employment, with evidence to support and demonstrate "sustained or international acclaim" and that achievements have been recognized in your field of expertise (approx. 6 months)

2. When the priority date becomes current and upon receiving the I-140 Receipt Notice or Approval Notice, filing of Application to Adjust Status to Permanent Resident (I-485) with corresponding U.S. CIS Service Center (approx. 1 year)

3. Decision of U.S. CIS Service Center

Application for Permanent Employment Certification

As of March 28, 2005, this application must be filed with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) under the new Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) process. Prior to filing the application, the employer is required to complete mandatory recruitment for a minimum of 60 days. All recruitment must have occurred within the 180 days prior to filing the PERM application. Once the PERM application is filed, it currently takes approximately 90-120 days to be certified by the U.S. Department of Labor, unless the case is audited by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Pre-Filing Recruitment:

1. Placement of a job order with the State Workforce Agency for 30 days (plus 30 day waiting period for applicants to apply)

2. Placement of 2 Sunday Newspaper Advertisements whose ad contents contain:

• Employer Name

• Wage (optional)

• Description of vacancy and geographic area of employment

3. Additional Recruitment (Minimum of 3 for Professional occupations, which must be completed at least 30 days prior to filing the PERM applications, with the exception of 1 of the 3 additional recruitment steps) a. Job Fairs b. Employer's Website c. Job Search Website (other than the Employer’s) d. On-Campus Recruiting e. Trade or Professional Organizations f. Private Employment Firms g. An Employee Referral Program (if it includes identifiable incentives) h. A Notice of Job Opening at a campus placement office (if the job requires a degree, but no experience) i. Local and Ethnic Newspapers (to the extent that they are appropriate for the job opportunity) j. Radio and Television Advertisements Additional Information:

4. A Web page generated in conjunction with a Print Ad now counts as a "Website other then the Employer's"

5. Additional recruitment steps must take no more than 180 days before filing

6. Only 1 of the additional recruitment steps may take place within 30 days of filing

Recruitment Report:

7. Outline steps taken

8. Results achieved and lawful reasons for rejection of U.S. workers

9.Maintain resumes/application materials for documentation/audit purposes for 5 years

Bona Fides of Employer:

10. Prove Employer's existence

11. Sponsorship

12. Publicly available databases

Audit Based On:

13. Review of application

14. Selection for quality control purposes

15. Required documentation bases upon the particulars of application

16. 30-day response time

17. Company may ask for additional time

18. Failure to comply application denied and future applications denied

Prevailing Wage Determinations:

19. Request prevailing wage determination from SWA serving area of intended employment of their form

20. Validity period 90 days to 1 year from determination date

21. Must pay 100% of prevailing wage—no variance

Caveats:

As per DOL Regulations, the Alien/Beneficiary may not be involved with the PERM process so as not to compromise the integrity of the system.

The DOL has also amended its regulations in regard to substitution of aliens on labor certification applications, the validity period for labor certifications and payment of costs related to the labor certification.