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Home | Immigration (Employment & Family) | Employment Based Green Cards | Labor Certification (PERM)

Labor Certification (PERM)

A permanent labor certification issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) allows an employer to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the United States. In most instances, before the U.S. employer can submit an immigration petition to the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the employer must obtain a certified labor certification application from the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The DOL must certify to the USCIS that there are not sufficient U.S. workers able, willing, qualified and available to accept the job opportunity in the area of intended employment and that employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.

To improve the operations of the permanent labor certification program (Program Electronic Review Management (“PERM”), the ETA published a final regulation on December 27, 2004, implementing a new, re-engineered permanent labor certification program, effective March 28, 2005. This new electronic program has improved services to our various stakeholders.

As of March 28, 2005, new ETA Form 9089 applications had to be filed under the new PERM regulation at the appropriate National Processing Center (NPC). DOL processes Applications for Permanent Employment Certification, ETA Form 9089, with the exception of Schedule A and sheepherder applications. The date the labor certification application is received by the DOL is known as the filing date and is used by USCIS and the Department of State as the “priority date”. After the labor certification application is certified by DOL, it should be submitted to the appropriate USCIS Service Center with a Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. The certification has a validity period of 180-days and expires if not submitted to USCIS within this period.

Process for Filing

  1. Application. The employer must complete an Application for Permanent Employment Certification, ETA 9089 Form. A completed application will describe in detail the job duties, educational requirements, training, experience, and other special skills the employee must possess to perform the work, and outline the foreign worker’s qualifications.
  2. Signature requirement. Applications submitted by mail must contain the original signature of the employer, foreign worker, and preparer, if applicable, when they are received by the NPC. Applications filed electronically must, upon receipt of the labor certification issued by ETA, be signed immediately by the employer, foreign worker, and preparer, if applicable, in order to be valid.
  3. Prevailing wage. Prior to filing ETA Form 9089, the employer must request and obtain a prevailing wage determination from the National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC). The employer is required to include on the ETA Form 9089 the NPWC provided information: the prevailing wage, the prevailing wage tracking number, the SOC (O*NET /OES) code, the occupation title, the skill level, the wage source, the determination date, and the expiration date. DOL’s Employment and Training Administration uses the Prevailing Wage Determination Policy Guidance of November 2009 to determine the prevailing wage rate and the level.
  4. Pre-Filing Recruitment Steps. All employers filing the ETA Form 9089 (except for those applications involving Schedule A occupations and sheepherders filed) must attest, in addition to a number of other conditions of employment, to having conducted recruitment prior to filing the application.Filing for professional occupations (occupations which normally require a bachelor’s or higher degree) requires placing Job Order, two print advertisements, and three additional recruitment steps while non-professional requires on the Job Order, two print advertisements, and two additional recruitment steps. Employers are not prohibited from conducting more recruitment than is required by the regulations.The employer must prepare a recruitment report in which it categorizes the lawful job-related reasons for rejection of U.S. applicants and provides the number of U.S. applicants rejected in each category. The recruitment report does not have to identify the individual U.S. workers who applied for the job opportunity, however, if requested by the Certifying Officer, the employer must submit the resumes.
  1. Audits/requests for information. Supporting documentation may not be filed with the ETA Form 9089, but the employer must provide the required supporting documentation if the employer’s application is selected for audit or if the Certifying Officer otherwise requests it.
  2. Retention of records. The employer is required to retain copies of applications for permanent employment certification and all supporting documentation for five years from the date of filing the ETA Form 9089. For example, the NPWC prevailing wage determination documentation is not submitted with the application, but it must be retained for a period of five years from the date of filing the application by the employer.
  3. Online filing. The employer has the option of filing an application electronically (using web-based forms and instructions) or by mail. However, DOL strongly recommends that employers file electronically. Not only is electronic filing, by its nature, faster, but it will also ensure the employer has provided all required information, as an electronic application can not be submitted if the required fields are not completed. Additionally, when completing the ETA Form 9089 online, the preparer is provided prompts to assist in ensuring accurate data entry.The employer can access a customer-friendly Web site (www.plc.doleta.gov) and, after registering and establishing an account, electronically fill out and submit an Application for Permanent Employment Certification, ETA Form 9089.Registration. To better assist employers with processing the Application for Permanent Employment Certification, the electronic Online Permanent System requires employers to set up individual accounts. An employer must set up a profile by selecting the appropriate profile option in the Online System. By completing an Employer Profile, the employer is able to:
    • Save time by pre-populating its general information.
    • View the status of its labor certification applications online.
    • Update its profile information online.
    • Track newly submitted labor certification applications.
    • E-mail saved labor certification applications to others within the company.
    • Add new users to its account.
    • Withdraw labor certification applications no longer needed.
  4. Filing by mail. Employers can submit paper applications to the Atlanta NPC. The address and contact information are provided on our Contact Information page.
  5. Approvals. If the Atlanta NPC approves the application, the ETA Form 9089 is signed by the Certifying Officer and returned to the employer/employer representative who submitted the application.