PERM Labor Certification: The First Step to a Work Green Card

PERM stands for Program Electronic Review Management. It is the labor market test for most employment-based green cards in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories. The idea is simple: an employer may hire a foreign worker permanently only if no qualified US worker applies for the job at the going wage.

You usually do not need PERM if you qualify for:

• EB-1A extraordinary ability, EB-1B outstanding researcher, or EB-1C multinational manager
• An EB-2 National Interest Waiver
• Schedule A occupations, which DOL has already found to be in shortage: professional nurses and physical therapists (Group I), and certain people of exceptional ability in the sciences or arts (Group II). The employer files these directly with USCIS on Form I-140.

The job must be a real, full-time, permanent position. You do not need to be working for the employer yet, although many PERM applicants are already in the US on an H-1B or L-1 visa.

The employer asks DOL's National Prevailing Wage Center to set the minimum wage for the job by filing Form ETA-9141. DOL looks at the job duties, requirements, and location, and usually assigns a wage level from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. The employer must offer at least this wage.

The job requirements must be what is normal for the occupation. Unusual requirements, such as a foreign language that the job does not truly need, must be justified by business necessity.

The employer must test the US labor market before filing. For professional jobs (normally requiring a bachelor's degree or higher), the mandatory steps are:

• A job order with the state workforce agency for 30 days
• Two print ads on two different Sundays in a newspaper of general circulation in the area (a professional journal can replace one ad for some jobs requiring an advanced degree)
• Three more recruitment steps chosen from a DOL list, such as the employer's website, a job search website, a campus job fair, an employee referral program, or a private recruiter
• A notice of filing posted at the worksite for 10 consecutive business days, and in any in-house media the employer normally uses

Non-professional jobs need the job order, the two Sunday ads, and the notice. Recruitment must happen between 30 and 180 days before the PERM application is filed, which creates a 30-day quiet period at the end.

The employer must review every applicant in good faith. If a qualified US worker applies, the employer cannot file PERM for that job. If the employer laid off workers in the same or a related occupation in the area within the past 6 months, it must contact them first.

The employer files Form ETA-9089 online in DOL's Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG). The form describes the job, the recruitment, and the worker's qualifications. The worker signs it too.

DOL can:

• Certify the application
• Audit it, asking for recruitment documents and a recruitment report
• Order supervised recruitment, where DOL controls a new round of advertising
• Deny it. The employer can ask DOL to reconsider or can appeal to the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA).

Current processing times for prevailing wages, analyst review, and audits are posted on the FLAG processing times page. Waits of many months at each stage are common.

Once DOL certifies the PERM, the employer has 180 days to file Form I-140 with USCIS. The date DOL received the PERM becomes your priority date, which decides your place in line. You can check your category's movement with our Visa Bulletin tracker and read priority dates explained.

When your priority date is current, you apply for the green card through adjustment of status if you are in the US, or consular processing if you are abroad. Adjustment of status became more discretionary under a May 2026 USCIS memo, so ask your employer's lawyer how it affects you.

For H-1B workers, a PERM or I-140 filed at least 365 days earlier can allow H-1B extensions beyond the usual 6-year limit.

DOL does not charge a filing fee for PERM. But DOL rules require the employer to pay the costs of preparing and filing the labor certification, including attorney fees and recruitment ads. You cannot be asked to pay or reimburse these costs, and you cannot pay them through lower wages.

The later USCIS steps have fees. As of the September 2026 fee schedule, Form I-140 is $715 on paper or $665 online, plus an Asylum Program Fee of $600 for most employers ($300 for small employers with 25 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees, $0 for nonprofits). Premium processing for the I-140 is $2,965. Employers can see the full picture in our PERM guide for employers and employer cost guide.