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Labor Certifications
In
many cases the only way to obtain U.S. permanent residence
("green card")
is for an individual to find an employer in the United States who is willing
to assist by applying for a Labor Certification on his/her behalf.
The Labor Certification is a process whereby through very strict regulations,
the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is satisfied that a full and proper recruitment
has been made of U.S. workers and that the U.S. Government standards have been
met to establish that there is no U.S. worker currently qualified, willing and
able to fill the position offered to the foreign worker.
The job has to be advertised in publications acceptable to the DOL and any applications
are sent directly to the State Employment Service Agency (SESA) for the employers'
review. All applicants who appear to qualify must be interviewed and may only
be rejected for lawful job related reasons. If there are qualified workers, it
is probable that the case will fail.
Depending on where in the U.S. the job is located, the process can take up to
3 years or more. Once approved, the case can be forwarded to the U.S. Immigration
and Naturalization Service to complete the permanent residence application. This
can be in the U.S. at the Immigration and Naturalization Service or out of the
U.S. at a U.S. Consulate in the area having jurisdiction over the employee.
An individual may be exempted from the Labor Certification process if an employer
can demonstrate it has extensively recruited through sources normal to its industry,
for the six months preceding the filing of the Labor Certification application.
This application can then be considered for Reduction in Recruitment or "fastrack" processing.
Examples of employment based categories not requiring a Labor Certification are
multi-national executives or managers (EB-1(c)), aliens of extraordinary ability
in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, outstanding professors
and researchers, applicants performing services in the "national interest",
and the permanent investor visas (EB-5).
Labor Certification for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States;
Implementation of New System ( PERM)
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