Permanent Alien Labor Certifications

I must have worked on too many permanent alien labor certification cases that, at some point, I started seeing the new Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) system of the U.S. Department of Labor for what it really is — a clustered and congested urban transportation network. Except, unlike an actual transportation network, PERM (not to be confused with a city in Russia by the same name) never runs on schedule, its workforce has never heard of customer service, and its technology seems to be evolving backwards; what began as the equivalent to a high speed electric train has turned into a steam powered locomotive — loud noise, clouds of smoke, and not a lot of speed. But the worst part is that there is no map, just directions at 20 C.F.R. Section 656.17 and a log of published decisions at the Bureau of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA), many of which read almost like cautionary tales for DIYs.

Although I certainly intended my map to be more real than imaginary, I would caution those actually using it to avoid navigating the permanent alien labor certification process as if it were a simple journey from point A to point B. The truth is getting from Permanent Job Offer to ETA 9089 Certified can be a daunting task, one that requires infinite patience, knowledge of detours and shortcuts, an uncanny sense of timing, as well as considerable skills at balancing two mutually opposed objectives. Having finally arrived to the end of the line and taken a free shuttle to the Airport to proceed with the filing of an immigrant visa petition, the petitioning employer may learn that the intended beneficiary will be stuck there, as if during a freak snowstorm which is not expected to abate for years. Priority dates for skilled workers, professionals, and other workers are hopelessly backlogged or simply unavailable. Not unless the job offer requires an advanced degree and the worker is other than a national of China, India, Mexico or the Philippines. To estimate the wait in your preference category, you may want to check current priority dates.