Employer's Tasks When Sponsoring a Worker for a Green Card
Employers who want U.S. residency for foreign workers must get a labor certification.
Foreign workers may obtain green cards to come to the United States only if their potential U.S. employer can prove that no American worker is qualified, willing, and available to take the job. The process of proving this to the U.S. government is called "labor certification." (The requirements are much less for foreign workers seeking to enter the U.S. on temporary, nonimmigrant visas, such as H-1Bs and H-2Bs, which are not covered here; for more information,
Step-by-Step Procedures for Labor Certification
The procedures for obtaining labor certification were radically changed in 2005, in an effort to streamline and shorten the application process.
1. Employer Requests Prevailing Wage Determination
Under the new procedures, the first step is for the employer to approach the state workforce agency (SWA) serving the state where its office is located. The employer must request what's called a "prevailing wage determination" (PWD), which will indicate how much is normally paid to people in jobs equivalent to the one being offered.
Each U.S. state has its own form for making this request. Finding out the prevailing wage is important because the employer must offer the immigrating worker 100% or more of the prevailing wage -- a change from the 95% that was acceptable before the 2005 regulations.
2. Employer Recruits in the U.S.
Next, the employer can begin recruiting for the job in the United States. (Actually, the employer can start recruiting before this, but must make sure to offer a salary that's at least as high as the prevailing wage.)
The Department of Labor (DOL) regulations spell out strict rules for recruiting. For example, the employer must announce the job in a statewide computer databank and in newspapers or other journals of general circulation, with ads appearing on two different Sundays. If the application is for a professional, the employer must conduct three additional steps chosen from a list published in the DOL regulations.
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