English » U.S. Visa Services » Immigration Visa - permanent residence permit "green card" » EB-3 Visa - "Skilled, Professional and Other Workers" » Is a Labor Certification required?
Is a Labor Certification required?
The first step of the EB-3 process is the so-called Labor Certification. While the US encourage qualified persons to immigrate into the country, they do not want this to disadvantage U.S. workers. That's why the first step is for the employer to prove that there is no U.S. worker available who is qualified for the position.
The application for the Labor Certification is filed with the appropriate Department of Labor. After the application has been submitted, the Department of Labor will ask the company to hire U.S. workers for the position. This means the company has to advertise the position in general and professional publications. Furthermore, the Department of Labor will advertise the position as well.
The filing date of the application is called "priority date" and is very important for the process - on this date the potential immigrant is lining up with the people whose applications will be processed within the annual immigration quota.
PLEASE NOTE: The Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) that became effective in March 2005 partly automates the application process. PERM allows U.S. employers to submit their petitions online. Applications no longer have to be sent by mail. The processing time is said to be no more than 45 to 60 days maximum, which is rather an ideal-case scenario. Before the petition for the potential new employee, the PERM program requires an extensive search for a U.S. worker for at least 6 months. Before the actual petition, an application has to be submitted to the State Workforce Agency. This agency simply checks the "prevailing wage", the average wage of similar positions in the US. Usually, a Labor Certification process takes between 6-20 months. The entire regulations would fill dozens of pages - so here are the most important facts.
Approval by the Department of Labor means that you have taken one serious administrative barrier - the next step is the petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
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