PERM Labor Certification: How Employers Sponsor a Green Card

Use PERM when you want to keep a foreign worker permanently in a full-time, permanent job and the worker does not qualify for a green card route that skips labor certification. Typical cases:

• An H-1B employee approaching the 6-year limit
• An L-1B or TN worker you want to keep long term
• A skilled trades, manufacturing, or year-round hospitality worker hired from abroad through EB-3
• A professional with an advanced degree through EB-2

Routes that skip PERM are faster when they fit:

Seasonal and temporary jobs cannot use PERM. Those use H-2A or H-2B.

The job must be a bona fide, permanent, full-time position open to US workers. The requirements must be normal for the occupation; unusual requirements (a foreign language, a narrow combination of skills) need business-necessity proof.

The worker must meet the job's stated requirements as of the priority date, using experience gained before joining you (or in a substantially different role with you).

The employer must:

• Pay at least the prevailing wage set by DOL, from the date the green card is granted
• Show ability to pay that wage from the priority date onward (tax returns, annual reports, or audited financials; large employers can use a statement from a financial officer)
• Pay all attorney and recruitment costs. The worker may not pay or reimburse them.
• Not have a financial or family relationship with the worker that it hides; ownership interests must be disclosed and draw scrutiny

1. Prevailing wage determination

File Form ETA-9141 with DOL's National Prevailing Wage Center through the FLAG system. DOL assigns a wage level for the occupation and area.

2. Recruitment

Recruitment must happen within the 180 days before filing, and the last step for most ads must end at least 30 days before filing. Required steps for all PERM jobs:

• A job order with the State Workforce Agency for 30 days
• Two Sunday print ads in a newspaper of general circulation in the area (a professional journal can replace one for jobs requiring experience and an advanced degree)
• An internal Notice of Filing posted for 10 consecutive business days, plus in-house media you normally use

For professional jobs (those needing a bachelor's degree or higher), add three more steps from DOL's list, such as a job fair, your website, a job search website, on-campus recruiting, trade publications, an employee referral program, a private employment firm, or local or ethnic newspapers.

You must consider every US applicant in good faith. If a minimally qualified US worker applies, you cannot file for that job.

3. File Form ETA-9089

File the application in FLAG. The filing date becomes the worker's priority date. DOL can certify, deny, or audit. Keep a recruitment report and all records for 5 years.

4. File Form I-140 with USCIS

File within 180 days of certification, with proof of ability to pay and the worker's qualifications.

5. Green card stage

When the priority date is current in the visa bulletin, the worker files for adjustment of status in the US or goes through consular processing abroad.

Government fees as of September 2026, from the USCIS fee schedule:

The largest costs are usually attorney fees and newspaper advertising. By law, the employer must pay PERM-stage attorney and recruitment costs; charging them to the worker can lead to denial or revocation. Estimate your total with the sponsorship cost estimator.

PERM is the slowest part of employment-based immigration. DOL posts current processing times for prevailing wages, analyst review, and audits on the FLAG processing times page. A realistic plan has these stages:

2026 factors that add delay:

• Interview freeze. Since August 25, 2026, the State Department has paused immigrant visa interviews worldwide, with no restart date announced. Workers abroad cannot finish. See the immigrant visa pause.
• Adjustment of status memo. A USCIS memo dated May 21, 2026 (PM-602-0199) says people in temporary status should get green cards in the US only in "extraordinary circumstances," and it applies to pending cases. Your employees should talk to a licensed immigration lawyer before filing.
• Travel ban. Nationals of the 39 countries covered by Proclamation 10998 generally cannot get immigrant visas abroad.
• Public charge. A new public charge rule took effect September 18, 2026.
• Proposed wage increase. A DOL proposal published March 26, 2026 would raise PERM and H-1B prevailing wage levels. It would apply to pending prevailing wage requests on its effective date, but not to already-issued determinations or certified PERMs. It was not final as of mid-August 2026.

Timing PERM matters for H-1B staff. The worker can extend beyond the 6-year H-1B limit:

• In 1-year steps if a PERM or I-140 was filed at least 365 days before the 6-year limit, or
• In 3-year steps once the I-140 is approved and the worker is waiting only for a visa number

Start PERM by the worker's fourth year in H-1B status to leave a margin. An approved I-140 that has been approved for 180 days generally stays valid for the worker's priority date even if you later withdraw it, which supports portability.

• Tailoring the job to the worker. Requirements must reflect the real job, not the worker's resume.
• Letting the worker pay. Even reimbursing part of the attorney fee through a bonus clawback can sink the case.
• Sloppy recruitment records. Audits ask for every resume and the lawful, job-related reason each US applicant was rejected.
• Missing the 180-day windows. Recruitment older than 180 days, or an I-140 filed more than 180 days after certification, forces a restart.
• Ignoring ability to pay. A startup with losses may need extra evidence for every year from the priority date.
• Layoffs. If you laid off workers in the same occupation in the 6 months before filing, you must notify and consider them.
• Waiting too long for H-1B workers near the 6-year limit.