Should I convert my existing labor certification to ‘perm’?

1) I have an existing Labor Certification. How do I know if PERM would be good for me?

If your existing labor certification case is not yet in the recruitment stage (i.e. the State Workforce Agency (SWA) has not yet instructed your employer to advertise the job in the newspaper), it is extremely beneficial, time-wise, to consider converting your regular labor certification to a "Program Electronic Review Management" system (PERM) labor certification. This is done by "withdrawing" your current case, and filing a new PERM for the same job.

Regular Labor Certification can take from 3 to 4 years to be processed by the Department of Labor (DOL), versus PERM processing of approximately 45 to 60 days. (Note: The 45-60 day processing time does not include time involved with pre-filing recruitment (which is less than six months), or USCIS processing of the petition or adjustment of status application. But still, cutting years off the processing time with DOL could be a great advantage.)

After March 28, 2005, PERM will be the only form of labor certification for cases filed after that date, so it is only those with pending labor certification cases who should consider if conversion is advantageous for them.

2) My case is already past the recruitment stage. Can I still convert to PERM?

Technically, you cannot "convert" your existing case, but instead you would need to withdraw the original filed labor certification, and file a new PERM case. However, because your case is already in the recruitment stage, you will "lose" your existing priority date, and you will get a new "priority date" based on the date the new PERM case is applied. (Note: If recruitment has not yet begun, and the labor certification case is properly "converted" to PERM, the old priority date is saved.)

3) What are the main advantages of PERM over regular Labor Certification?

For regular Labor Certification, it could take 4 to 5 years to get a certification from the DOL. (Many SWAs have still not touched some cases filed with them in April 2001, and we are already in 2005. So, there is currently a four-year wait to get a labor certification in some states.) With PERM, your case goes straight to the Department of Labor, which stated that a properly filed case can be processed in 45 to 60 days. Once DOL "certifies" the job, you would be in a position to file the petition with USCIS. And, if your priority date is "current", meaning that visas are "available," you could also filed for adjustment of status (assuming you are in status or have the benefit of Section 245(i) or 245(k)) and for work authorization.

Please note that since about 1997, the priority date for Labor Certification was "current" for Filipinos, meaning that as soon as DOL certified the job, they could file for work authorization and adjustment. But in January 2005, the priority date retrogressed (or moved backwards). So for now, if a person’s priority date is after January 1, 2002 (the current Labor Certification priority date), the adjustment of status application could not be filed right away. We hope the priority date would move forward soon, and again be "current" for Filipino workers.

The bottom line is that all Labor Certification cases filed after March 28, 2005 will be under PERM. For existing cases, there is the possible option of cutting years off the labor certification process by converting to PERM.

As you can see, while PERM promises to be fast, there are still many requirements and steps that must be followed and met in order to gain fast "approval" or certification of the case. That is why it is important that you seek the advice of a reputable attorney, who can guide you through the process, whether you already have the existing labor certification, and want to convert to PERM, or want to file a new one under PERM.

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