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Houston PERM Attorneys
PERM LABOR CERTIFICATE
The Immigration & Naturalization Act requires employers to obtain labor certificates from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for certain employees prior to filing an immigrant petition for a foreign employee. Currently, the filing and processing of labor certificates are being filed through an electronic process called PERM. PERM streamlines and expedites its predecessor labor cetificate application, which took years to complete. Under PERM, the completion of the labor certification can be as quickly as 90 days from the date of start. However, current economic conditions reduced the number of applications; and as such, the DOL is scrutinizing the process and regularly audit employers to insure all required recruitment process are being complied.
The experienced Houston PERM Immigration Attorneys at PHAM & CLOVES, PLLC have successfully file PERM applications for numerous clients. Our success lies in our ability to study these new regulations and be proactive about the steps involved in this new process. Our experience allows us to identify potential problems and will take necessary precautions to allow the DOL to process the application as smoothly as possible. Common problems include those related to the prevailing wage, experience gained on the job, recruitment and advertisement process, education level required, and special requirements as to the proposed position. Contact the Houston PERM Attorneys and the Southwest Houston Labor Certificate Lawyers at PHAM & CLOVES, PLLC for assistance in preparing and filing PERM applications.
PERM Labor Certificate Filing Procedures
The first step in which our Houston PERM Lawyers assist employers is the recruitment and advertisement process. Employers must advertise the proposed position on the internet (public and internal websites), college recruitment, job fairs, and employee referral bonuses, just to name a few. The recruitment process must be documented in detail, including bit not exclusive to the number of resume received, the number of candidates that were potentially qualified, interviewed candidates if any (phone or face-to-face), and whether or not any candidates were qualified and offers made.
For a professional position, there are four mandatory recruitment requirements. The employer’s recruitment efforts must include (1) Obtaining a prevailing wage determination from the State Workforce Commission; (2) Two Sunday advertisements placed in a major local newspaper (Caveat - the ads must come out on a Sunday paper and not a weekly magazine); (3) Posting notice of the job opportunity on the company premises for 10 consecutive business days; and (4) Placing a job order with the State Workforce Commission for 30 days.
In addition to the foregoing, the sponsoring company must undertake at least three of the following:
1. Participating in job fairs;
2. Posting the position on the employer’s website(s);
3. Use of a professional job-search site;
4. Campus recruiting efforts;
5. Recruitment through trade or professional organizations;
6. Use of private employment/search firms;
7. Use of an employee referral program with incentives;
8. On campus job posting with the career center;
9. Advertisement in local and ethnic newspapers; or Radio and Television advertisements.
The employer should be able to demonstrate that qualified U.S. employees are in short supply. Because of the current economic condition, the DOL is scrutinizing this requirement. Therefore, our Houston PERM Attorneys regularly advise our clients to keep detail record of their recruitment efforts in case of an audit. If there is an audit, our experienced Houston PERM Immigration Attorneys will draft a cover letter in collaboration with the employer’s Human Resources department and will specify:
1. The number of job openings;
2. The number of résumés received;
3. The number of candidates interviewed;
4. The number of openings remaining;
5. Brief grounds for rejection of unqualified applicants; and
6. Retention of résumés.
Once all of these steps are accomplished, our attorneys will file the labor certification applications electronically. The expected processing time for PERM is 90 to 180 days. Please contact our Houston PERM Lawyers and our Southwest Houston Labor Certificate Attorneys for assistance in preparing and filing PERM applications.