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PERM: It is the same process to see if a candidate is not qualified for the position?

Question: I understand that PERM applications will be able to be filed starting at the end of March. Also, I understand that there has to be pre-recruitment prior to the filing of the PERM application. My question is whether the process to see whether an applicant is qualified or not qualified for the position is the same. What must be done and what must be documented?

Answer: Prior to PERM, the applicant had to meet any and all requirements for the position. If they did not meet any requirement in particular, then they were not qualified for the position and the employer would be able to disqualify the applicant.

However, there is a new provision in the PERM requirements that do make it more difficult to show that a potential employee is disqualified for the position. Under PERM, if the potential applicant does not have each and every one of the requirements of the position, he or she cannot immediately be disqualified. The PERM regulations state that if the potential employee could be trained on the job in a reasonable amount of time that he or she cannot be disqualified and they must be considered to be eligible for the position.

Question: If they are eligible for the position, what exactly does that mean?

Answer: It means that the PERM labor certification is over and that the position cannot be certified because there are available U.S. workers for the position.

Question: What can be done to avoid this happening?

Answer: There will be several ways to try to avoid this. However, most clearly would be the attempt to make the position more difficult and to make the position so that it had more qualifications necessary. The employer would have to try to show that the potential employee could not be trained in a reasonable amount of time. While it is still somewhat early to determine what may and may not work, it would seem that if the employer was a smaller employer, that they may not have the time or resources to train a person for the position. It is entirely plausible that if a small employer has to train a new person, that by time that person is up and running that the business of the employer may be suffering. Also, the higher the qualifications needed in order to perform the positions, the harder it will be to show that they can be immediately trained or trained within a reasonable time. There should be more specificity in the job. For example, instead of stating that there should be a chef. It should state that there should be a chef with Middle Eastern or Asian experience. It should state the type of dishes necessary for the person to accurately perform the duties of the position.

While we are in new territory here, if the PERM is prepared carefully, it still appears to be a much better alternative than the old RIR Labor Certification system.

PERM: How to advertise?

Question: I know that PERM is now going to be the way that Labor Certifications are supposed to be done. However, I am very confused on how to do the advertising. Can you please let me know what must be done?

Answer: There are very specific rules for advertising. However, there are also requirements that are somewhat specific to the organization. First, notice of the job must be posted at the employer’s facility or location of the employment. The notice must be posted for at least 10 consecutive business days. The notice must be clearly visible and unobstructed while posted and must be posted in conspicuous places where the employer’s U.S. workers can readily read the posted notice on their way to or from their place of employment. Appropriate locations for posting notices of the job opportunity include locations in the immediate vicinity of where other required work documents are necessary to be posted.

Question: Other than the Job Posting is there other types of advertising the employer must do in their place of employment.

Answer: Yes. In addition to the Job Posting, the employer must publish the notice in any and all in-house media, whether electronic or printed, in accordance with the normal procedures used for the recruitment of similar positions in the employer’s organization. The documentation requirement may be satisfied by providing a copy of the posted notice and stating where it was posted and by providing copies of all the in-house media, whether electronic or print, that were used to distribute notice of the application in accordance with the procedures used for similar positions within the employer’s organization.

Thus, whatever the normal in-house procedures have been used for non PERM employees must be used for the prospective PERM employee.

Question: What other type of advertising must be done?

Answer: Each PERM application must be done through what is known as pre-filing recruitment. Therefore, the advertising must be done prior to the PERM being filed with the Department of Labor. There are two basic categories of advertising that must be done. First, is for the ‘Professional’ and the second is for the ‘Nonprofessional’. The Department of Labor defines a Professional as a position that requires at least a college degree.

The pre-advertising must be done no more than six months prior to the filing of the PERM application and at least 30 days. There must be two print-ads and one Job Order. A Job Order is placed with the State Workforce Agency or SWA. The start and end dates of the job order entered on the application serves as documentation that this step was done.

The advertisements must be in a newspaper or professional journals (if it is a Professional job.) The advertisement must be placed on two different Sundays in the newspaper of general circulation in the area of intended employment most appropriate to the occupation and the workers likely to apply for the job opportunity and most likely to bring responses from able, willing, qualified, and available U.S. workers.

Question: What exactly must be in the advertisement?

Answer: The advertisement must (1) name the employer; (2) Direct applicants to report or send resumes, as appropriate for the occupation, to the employer; (3) Provide a description of the vacancy specific enough to apprise the U.S. workers of the job opportunity for which certification is sought; 4) Indicate the geographic area of employment with enough specificity to apprise applicants of any travel requirements and where applicants will likely have to reside to perform the job opportunity; (5) Not contain a wage rate lower than the prevailing wage rate; (6) Not contain any job requirements or duties which exceed the job requirements or duties listed on the ETA Form 9089; and (7) Not contain wages or terms and conditions of employment that are less favorable than those offered to the alien.

Question: Must a professional advertise in the papers and a professional journal?

Answer: No. If the job requires an advanced degree and experience and a Professional Journal would normally be used to advertise the position, then one of the Sunday advertisements can be substituted in with a Professional Journal advertisement.

Question: Is there anything else needed for the advertising? If it is a professional position, then there must be further recruitment steps. The employer must pick three additional recruitment steps. Only one of the three can actually be within 30 days of filing the application. The rest must be no more than 180 days of filing the application. (A) Job fairs. Recruitment at job fairs for the occupation involved in the application, which can be documented by brochures advertising the fair and newspaper advertisements in which the employer is named as a participant in the job fair; (B) Employer’s Web site. The use of the employer’s Web site as a recruitment medium can be documented by providing dated copies of pages from the site that advertise the occupation involved in the application; (C) Job search Web site other than the employer’s. The use of a job search Web site other than the employer’s can be documented by providing dated copies of pages from one or more website(s) that advertise the occupation involved in the application. Copies of web pages generated in conjunction with the newspaper advertisements of this section can serve as documentation of the use of a Web site other than the employer’s; (D) On-campus recruiting. The employer’s on-campus recruiting can be documented by providing copies of the notification issued or posted by the college’s or university’s placement office naming the employer and the date it conducted interviews for employment in the occupation; (E) Trade or professional organizations. The use of professional or trade organizations as a recruitment source can be documented by providing copies of pages of newsletters or trade journals containing advertisements for the occupation involved in the application for alien employment certification; (F) Private employment firms; (G) Employee referral program with incentives; (H) Campus placement offices. (I) Local and ethnic newspapers. The use of local and ethnic newspapers can be documented by providing a copy of the page in the newspaper that contains the employer’s advertisement and/or (J) Radio and television advertisements.

Remember, that the other outside advertising needed for a nonprofessional would simply be the two advertisements in Sunday in a paper of general circulation and the SWA 30 day Job Order.

I thought H-1B’s were dead!

Question: I have heard that H-1B’s were all used up for this fiscal year on the very first day. I have my Masters in Business Administration and was hoping to get an H-1B. Is there anything I can do?

Answer: Actually, there have been new H-1B provisions which have been passed by both the House and the Senate. It is simply awaiting signature by the President of the United States to make it law. It was actually passed inside of an Omnibus Budget Bill.

The new H-1B laws are entitled the ‘H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004’. Now an employer must pay $1,500 to have an H-1B petition filed. If the employer has less than 25 employees, then the employer will only be required to pay $750.00. Additionally, there is a ‘Fraud Fee’ for both H’s and L’s of $500. Apparently, there is a big concern about fraudulently filed H’s and L’s and now everybody who files such applications must pay $500 which will go to a specific unit to investigate such fraud.

Next, the prevailing wage to be paid must be 100% (not 95%) of what is normal for the industry. However, the law now mandates that instead of the currently listed two tier wage for experience, there should be a four tier level of experience to determine the wage.

The Department of Labor will be able to conduct and initiate investigations into what it believes are employers violating the H-1B provisions.

In regards to your situation, now people who earn Master’s or higher degree from a U.S. institution are now exempt from the H-1B cap. There is a limitation of 20,000 per year for this exemption. Thus, assuming this is signed into law, it would help you for the next fiscal year. This is certainly a step in the right direction.

Question: There are certainly a lot of fees that have been added. Where are all of those fees going to go?

Answer: The distribution of money will be as follows: Job training- from 55% to 50%; Scholarship program- from 22% to 30%; National Science Foundation grant program for K-12 Math. Science and Technology education- from 15% to 10%; DHS processing from 4% to 5% and DOL processing maintained at 5%. The scholarships for computer science or other technology or science programs are increased from $3,125 to $10,000.

The most important provisions changing the H-1B program seem to be the exemption of persons with Master’s and higher education in the U.S. This will actually free up 20,000 more H-1B’s per year for everyone else. While this is not nearly enough, it is certainly a good start.

Door is Closed for Professionals

Question: I came here on a visitor visa 3 months ago and now I would like to apply for the H-1B. What must I do?

Answer: Unfortunately, you are too late for this years allotment. As of October 1, 2004, all H-1B’s have been allotted for the next fiscal year until October 1, 2005. Thus, as unfair as it seems, the day the new year’s allotment was opened, it was shut off and closed.

The H-1B Cap prohibits U.S. Employers from hiring global talent On October 1, 2004. USCIS officials announced that the H-1B cap on visas for highly educated foreign professionals had been reached. Unless Congress takes action before the end of the 108th session, employers will be barred from hiring new H-1B foreign professionals for an entire year. Essential action would include exempting from the H-1B numerical cap graduates from U.S. universities who have earned a Master’s degree or higher. Such a rational solution to this crisis would help ensure a workable H-1B program that would give U.S. employers access to the talent they need and help retain jobs in America. A select number of H-1B professionals are graduates from U.S. top universities’ Master’s and PhD programs. In the graduate-level math and sciences programs, foreign nationals represent roughly half of all graduates. Prohibiting access to these world-class minds raises troubling issues. Not only would U.S. employers miss out on American-educated talent, but we would be handing this talent to our competitors abroad. Indeed, foreign countries are updating their immigration policies to attract this highly educated talent, making the competition to retain the best and the brightest that much more difficult for the United States to win. The exhaustion of this fiscal year’s visa numbers also has made it more difficult for Americans to receive needed services. For instance, it is not commonly known that H-1B professionals serve as doctors, teachers and researchers, and work to develop products and services that improve the lives of Americans. H-1B professionals include psychologists and special education instructors who work with the mentally challenged, engineers who design tunnels and subway corridors that can withstand terrorist attacks, and biomedical researchers central to the fight against cancer, AIDS and other diseases. Without access to these highly educated foreign professionals, America will suffer. Not only will our ability to provide benefits to our own citizens be diminished, but the glow of American innovation that results from having access from the world’s brightest minds may be forever dimmed.

Question: Are there any other options?

Answer: There are other types of nonimmigrant visas such as the O, E, L, and other H’s. You should definitely look into those other options and not go out of status.

Have $1,000,000 for a Green Card?

Question: I am a wealthy businessman and would like to find some expedited way to get into the U.S. Can you let me know if there are other alternatives to the lengthy several year Labor Certification process?

Answer: The Immigrant Investor Pilot Program (“Pilot Program”) was created on October 6, 1992. This is a variation of a program known as the EB-5 Investor Program. The Pilot Program began in accordance with a Congressional mandate aimed at stimulating economic activity and creating jobs for U.S. workers, while simultaneously affording eligible aliens the opportunity to become lawful permanent residents. Through this innovative program, foreign investors are encouraged to invest funds in an economic unit known as a “Regional Center.” A Regional Center is defined as any economic unit, public or private, engaged in the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation and increased domestic capital investment. Presently up to 3000 immigrant visas are set aside each year for the Pilot Program. As of June 1, 2004, a total of 26 Regional Centers have been designated by the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and today, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS).

Question: What must I do to get an approval for a Regional Center?

Answer: The basic requirements for Regional Center designation are 1) Applicants must show how their proposed program will focus on a geographic region; promote economic growth through increased export sales, if applicable; promote improved regional productivity; create a minimum of 10 direct or indirect jobs per investor; increase domestic capital investment; be promoted and publicized to prospective investors; have a positive impact on the regional or national economy through increased household earnings; and generate a greater demand for business services, utilities maintenance and repair, and construction jobs both in and around the center.

Question: How much must I invest?

Answer: The capital investment requirement for any EB-5 investor, inside or outside of a Regional Center is $1 million. The capital investment requirement for an EB-5 investor in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) or a Rural Area (RA) is $500,000. A TEA is a geographic area or political subdivision located within a metropolitan statistical area or within a city or town with a population in excess of 20,000 with an unemployment level at least 150% of the national unemployment rate. A RA is a geographical area that is outside a metropolitan statistical area, or part of the outer boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or less as shown by population indicators. In certain areas involving a sparsely populated state, an approved statewide Regional Center likely encompasses both TEAs and RAs.

Thus, if you can establish the business in a TEA or RA, you will be able to save $500,000 of the investment. If approved, you will get a conditional Green Card which will allow you be a Lawful Permanent Resident. Then within two years you must file a petition to remove the conditional residency. The USCIS wants to make certain that you simply did not put down $1,000,000 and then not actually follow through with your business. However, this is certainly a much faster way of obtaining the Green Card if you qualify.

Brian D. Lerner is an Immigration Attorney Specialist. This firm does every aspect of immigration law including family and employment based petitions, deportation defense and criminal related immigration issues, asylum, naturalization, appeals, nonimmigrant visas, immigrant visas, and all other areas of immigration law. An appointment can be made by calling (866) 495-0554 or (562) 495-0554. The Firm website is www.californiaimmigration.us.

New Regulations for Health Care Workers

Question: I am a registered Nurse in the Philippines and I have passed the CGFNS. I have heard that there are new regulations for health care workers. Is that true?

Answer: Yes, new regulations were just implemented. These new regulations apply to temporary health care workers as well as the health care workers applying for lawful permanent residency. The new rules become effective September 23, 2003.

There are several new regulations for firms to be able to apply to be able to submit the necessary application to issue the certificates needed for these health care professionals.

Question: Do these new regulations apply to every type of health care professional?

Answer: No. They do not apply to Physicians and non-clinical positions such as researches or administrative positions. Also, people coming into the U.S. on training related visas do not need the certificate. The types of medical fields covered are Licensed Practical Nurses, Licensed Vocational Nurses, and Registered Nurses; Occupational Therapists; Physical Therapists; Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists; Medical Technologists; Physician Assistants and Medical Technicians.

Question: When does the certificate have to be presented and who issues this certificate?

Answer: For the nonimmigrant, he or she will have to show the certificate to the embassy or consulate and to the Department of Homeland Security each and every time they enter the United States. The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nurses (CGFNS) can issue the certificate for nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists and audiologists, medical technicians and physician assistants.

Question: What does one have to do to get this certificate?

Answer: The person must show that his/her education, training, license, and experience are comparable with that required for an American health care worker of the same type; That the education, training, license, and experience are authentic and, in the case of a license, unencumbered; That the education, training, license, and experience meet all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for admission into the United States. Also, you must either pass an examination showing it is likely you will pass the actual licensing examination in the U.S., or you must pass the actual licensing examination itself.

Finally, you must show that you have passed the English language requirements.