An American employer may sponsor you to get your Green Card.
This is allowed if you are already here working on a Visa or if you are living in your home Country.
The cost for some or all of this process may be paid for by the employer. In any case, the worker won’t have to pay for the first two steps of the process, which are the most expensive portion, and are paid by the employer.
If your particular situation requires a PERM Labor Certification, there are four main steps in getting an employment Green Card. However, each step involves a large amount of work and it is NOT something you would ever want to do without an immigration attorney.
Step 1: Preliminaries
Does foreign worker have prior arrests or other issues which will later be a problem in getting their employment Green Card?
Can the employee get documentation of education and experience?
Can the employer document or prove that it can pay the wages of the foreign worker?
Is the employer willing to pay the prevailing wage to be determined by the Department of Labor?
Begin to prepare job description acceptable to the Department of Labor.
This step is important to determine whether to proceed onto the next.
For example, if the employee is inadmissible to the U.S. due to a felony conviction, then you may not want to proceed. There are in some cases waivers, but that is evaluated on a case by case basis as to the likelihood of success.
Likewise, if the employer can’t prove it can pay the employee, then their immigration petition will likely later be denied. Best to know this up front.
Step 2. PERM Labor Certification
This step in the process involves doing a good faith recruitment for the position to persons in the U.S., before giving the job to the foreign worker. This will allow a qualified American worker who is ready, willing and able to do the job, to accept the position first.
The PERM Labor Certification basically tests the market to see whether any U.S. workers will do the job for the wage determined by the DOL (department of labor).
This is a complex process. In many cases, those who apply for the position are not qualified or may not want to accept it at the prevailing wage being offered by employer. If there are no acceptable American workers who apply, then this will allow the process to move forward for the foreign worker.
The employer will be required to run two Sunday ads in local newspapers and do a State Workforce posting of the position. If it is a professional position, there are several more requirements. Your immigration lawyer will need to work closely with the employer and the alien worker during the entire process.
Filing Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
After the PERM Labor Certification is approved, the employer may file the immigrant petition for the alien worker.
At this stage, the employer will need to document or prove that it has the actual ability to pay the prevailing wage to the worker. If employer cannot prove that it is able to pay these wages, the application may not be approved.
Finally – The Green Card Application
This is the final step in the process and is typically the easiest if the prior steps were followed.
If the employee is lawfully here in the U.S., then he or she may apply to adjust her status in the U.S. order to get the Green Card, and stay in the United States during the Green Card process.
If the employee is residing in their home Country, they will have to go through the consular processing to obtain their Green Card. They will also have to reside outside the U.S. during the process. The time it takes will depend upon their classification.
Getting an employment based Green Card is a complex process.
It is more complicated than getting a Green Card through marriage to an American Citizen. However, just stay in close contact with your immigration lawyer during the process. It does work and if you are already here, you may continue working until you get your Green Card. Of course, you will be required to maintain your lawful status in the U.S. until you get it
P.S. PERM stands for: “Program Electronic Review Management process”