PERM regulations mandate that recruitment steps for both professional and non-professional positions be completed within 6 months of filing the PERM application. Professional vs. Non-Professional Professional occupations usually require a bachelor’s degree or higher. You could also possess the foreign equivalent of a degree to qualify. Speak with your immigration attorney to determine if your degree qualifies for the professional occupation category. Mandatory Steps:
- Placing a Job order with the State Workforce Agency for a period of 30 days;
- Placing a job ad in 2 consecutive Sunday editions of a local newspaper with wide circulation in the area of intended employment OR an ad can be placed in a relevant professional journal in lieu of 1 Sunday newspaper ad. (NOTE – if the job opportunity is located in a rural area that does not have a newspaper with a Sunday edition, the employer may then use the edition with the “widest circulation” in the area of intended employment.)
A combination of any 3 additional recruitment methods outlined below can meet the additional recruitment requirement for professional positions:
- Job fairs
- Employer’s website
- Job search website other than your employer’s (e.g. monster.com, indeed.com)
- On-campus recruiting
- Trade or professional organization
- Private employment firms
- Employee referral program with incentives
- Campus placement offices
- Local and ethnic newspapers
- Radio and television
Your employer should always remember to keep a diligent record of all payment receipts and online correspondence to provide sufficient evidence of the effort put into this recruiting process. This will help avoid a lengthy and potentially costly audit. Non-Professional Jobs In order to satisfy the recruitment process for non-professional positions (positions that do not require a degree an employer is required to only comply with the following 2 steps:
- Placing a Job order with the State Workforce Agency for a period of 30 days;
- Placing a job ad in 2 consecutive Sunday editions of a local newspaper with wide circulation in the area of intended employment
The steps must be conducted at least 30 days but no more than 180 days before the filing of the application. For both professional and non-professional positions, the employer must wait 30 days after the end of the recruitment period before filing the ETA 9089. This is to ensure that any qualified U.S. workers have a reasonable time period in which to respond to your ads or job order.
