What is a Permanent Labor Certification &
How Do You Obtain It?

If you’re an employer who wants to hire a foreign worker, you are required to obtain a Permanent Labor Certification before you can bring them to the United States under your employ. Here, we’ll discuss exactly what this certification is, and how you can obtain it.

What is Permanent Labor Certification?

Permanent Labor Certification, or PERM Labor Certification, is a program run by the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S Department of Labor (DOL). The primary purpose of a PERM labor certification is to verify that job availability, working conditions, and wages for American workers aren’t negatively impacted by positions offered to non-U.S. citizens.

Employment-Based Visas That Require PERM Labor Certification

Before you pursue a PERM labor certification for your potential hire, you’ll need to know which employment-based immigrant visas actually require a certification—because not all do.

Visas that do require a certification include:

• EB-2—for people who have advanced degrees (or an equivalent), or exceptional ability in business, sciences, and the arts.
• EB-3—for skilled workers whose jobs require at least two years of training or experience; professionals whose jobs require at least a U.S. bachelor’s degree (or a foreign equivalent); and other workers who perform unskilled labor that requires less than two years of training or experience (and is non-seasonal).

Employment-based visas that don’t require a PERM labor certification include the:

• EB-1—for individuals with extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, business, education or athletics (who have achieved notoriety nationally or internationally); outstanding professors and researchers who have achieved international recognition and have at least three years of experience in teaching or research; and certain multinational managers or executives.
• EB-4—for individuals including religious workers, broadcasters, members of the U.S. armed forces, and some U.S. government employees.
• EB-5—for immigrant investors who make a certain investment in a U.S.-based commercial enterprise, and plan to maintain or create at least 10 permanent full-time jobs for U.S. workers who qualify.

How Do You Obtain a PERM Labor Certification?

To submit an application for a PERM labor certification, you’ll need to file ETA Form 9089, Application for Permanent Employment Certification, with the Department of Labor. This form includes specifics regarding the job offered and the foreign worker.

Your application needs to be validated with the signatures of the foreign worker, you (the employer and petitioner), and the person preparing the application, before sending it to the Department of Labor’s processing center.

If your application is approved, it’s important to understand that having an approved PERM labor certification doesn’t mean that the DOL verified that the foreign worker is qualified for the position. Rather, it means that you, the employer, made an honest and thorough effort to test the work force to find a qualified and able U.S. worker to fill the position, and you were unable to find a viable candidate.

USCIS will determine whether or not a foreign worker met the minimum education and experience requirements of the PERM labor certification at the time that you filed for certification. Your visa petition won’t be approved if the foreign worker wasn’t qualified for the visa preference category by the filing date of the PERM labor certification, which is when your application for PERM labor certification is received by the DOL—also referred to as your priority date.