NEWS

Employment Authorization for Foreign Workers with Compelling Circumstances

If you have heard that USCIS issues employment authorization documents (EADs) based on compelling circumstances, you may be wondering if you qualify. In this blog post, we will explain eligibility for these EADs and how USCIS defines compelling circumstances. USCIS issues EADs based on compelling circumstances to help foreign workers who are employed in the READ MORE

Employers’ Ability to Pay the Wage for Employment-based Immigration

On March 15, 2023, USCIS issued policy guidance to explain how it analyzes an employer’s ability to pay the proffered wage in certain employment-based I-140 immigration petitions, including PERM labor certification-based cases.  This article will discuss this policy guidance as well as the general rules for employers to document their ability to pay the proffered READ MORE

PERM Labor Certification Recruitment and the Disqualification of Applicants

The PERM labor certification application is the first stage for most immigrants in an employment-based case for legal permanent residency. The PERM process is designed to protect US workers by requiring employers that sponsor foreign nationals to offer at least the prevailing wage for the position and then conduct a test of the US labor READ MORE

BALCA Overturns PERM Denial in Matter of Marlabs

In Matter of Marlabs, Inc. 2013-PER-01125 (Nov. 9, 2017), BALCA reversed the Department of Labor’s (DOL) denial of a PERM labor certification application (ETA 9089). The employer filed an Application for Permanent Employment Certification (“Form 9089”) sponsoring the alien for permanent employment for the position of “Software Developers, Applications,” and required a master’s degree and READ MORE

PERM Labor Certification Statistics Issued

The US Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA)/Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) issued selected statistics for its Permanent Labor Certification Program for fiscal year (FY) 2017. The PERM labor certification application is the first stage in most employment-based applications for legal permanent residency and requires the employer to obtain a prevailing READ MORE

Legal Permanent Residency and the PERM Labor Certification Application

The most prevalent avenue for a foreign national to obtain legal permanent residency in the US through employment involves the PERM labor certification process. There are two or three stages to obtaining legal permanent residency through this PERM labor certification process: (1) the PERM labor certification application (2) the immigrant visa petition; and (3) the READ MORE

BALCA Cases on PERM Requirements and Recruitment

The Department of Labor’s Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently published three cases on the minimum requirements, recruitment and disqualification of US workers associated with PERM labor certification applications. The PERM process is designed to protect US workers by requiring employers that sponsor foreign nationals to first conduct a test of the US READ MORE