Special Handling Labor Certification

Recruitment and Selection Procedures

For Teachers/Professors to Meet the Requirements of the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) Process

There are many pathways to permanent residency (sometimes referred to as “a green card”) for a non-immigrant in the United States.  Labor Certification is the first step in one of the employment pathways to permanent residency.   
In order to qualify for Labor Certification, the job must be:

  • Located in the United States
  • Permanent – the University must intend to employ the applicant for the foreseeable future.  The position cannot have a specified end date and cannot be seasonal or intermittent
  • Full-time
  • A bona fide job opportunity
  • Offer prevailing wages and working conditions

University of Arkansas departments who are sponsoring an employee for Labor Certification should be aware that the U.S. Department of Labor’s review process can be very stringent.  Even carefully-structured labor certification applications may be rejected by the Department of Labor based on a variety of technical or substantive grounds.

Why recruit?

When the University of Arkansas petitions for U.S. permanent residency for a non-immigrant University employee, the department must recruit for applicants in specific and Department of Labor approved ways.  With respect to teaching positions, an advertisement in a nationally distributed professional journal is required in order for the non-immigrant to qualify for permanent labor certification.  Through the selection process, the University must establish that the non-immigrant employee was more qualified than all other US worker applicants.  The recruitment process is done to gather applications of those candidates who are willing to work at the University of Arkansas and who meet the minimum qualifications for the job.

If you have already selected a non-immigrant employee for the teaching position through a national search, there is an 18 month window to file the Labor Certification calculated from the point of the selection of the employee.  We use the date of the offer letter to verify the selection date.

How do we determine the prevailing wage?

Before submitting the Labor Certification, the University must obtain a prevailing wage rate for the position from the U.S. Department of Labor.  The Office of the Associate General Counsel (OAGC) office will submit the request for a prevailing wage determination.  If the applicant’s salary is less than 100% of the prevailing wage, it must be raised to the prevailing wage, or the PERM process cannot continue. 

What documentation of the advertising must the department provide?

For positions with teaching responsibilities, you will need to provide OAGC with the following:

  1. A copy of the ad placed in the national professional journal with confirmation of the exact dates of the posting.
  2. A copy of the posting of the position on the University’s Employment Opportunities web site with confirmation of the exact dates of the posting.
  3. A copy of the “Recruitment Plan Form” and the “Recruitment Summary Form” that was submitted to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance.
  4. Representative copy of correspondences to colleagues and institutions informing them of the open position.

What additional documentation must the department provide for the Labor Certification process?

  • Data collection forms from both the department and the employee.  The forms can be obtained from the isslink.uark.edu.
  • Resumes of each applicant.  This can be in electronic format such as a CD or thumb drive.
  • A copy of the correspondence that went out to each applicant acknowledging receipt of the application, acknowledging any delays in the review process, and informing applicants of the selection of the employee.
  • A copy of the Applicant Worksheet that was submitted to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance at the time of the job offer.
  • A copy of the Summary of the Interviews that was submitted to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance at the time of the job offer.
  • If not mentioned in the Worksheet or the Summary of Interviews, a statement from the Search Committee how the employee was more qualified than each of the other applicants.
  • Copy of the job offer letter, signed by Dean and the employee.

What documentation must the employee provide for the Labor Certification process?

  • Copy of the ID page of the passport
  • Copy of the most recent I-94 to show the last status admitted to the U.S.
  • Copy of the transcript/diploma of the degree used to obtain the position
  • Updated resume that includes the current employment at the University of Arkansas

What are the steps after these documents are provided to ISS

  1. OAGC will submit a prevailing wage request to the U.S. Department of Labor.
  2. OAGC will provide the department with an Internal Posting Document that will need to remain posted for 2 weeks in the department and then returned to the OAGC .
  3. Once the prevailing wage request and postings are returned to OAGC, OAGC will create the Labor Certification Recruitment Report.  The department head will edit as needed, print the document on departmental letter head, sign the report and return it to OAGC .
  4. OAGC will file the Labor Certification to the U.S. Department of Labor.
  5. If approved, OAGC will file the I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The recruitment report and all records) will become part of the documentation included in the applicant’s file.  The file will be available to U.S. Department of Labor officials if the labor certification application is audited, and will be retained in the OAGC for a minimum of five years.  Note that audits of labor certification requests are common and so careful documentation of all steps in the recruitment process is essential.