LABOR CERTIFICATION

Labor Certification is a common process that many green card applicants experience. Its purpose is to demonstrate that there are no minimally qualified U.S. workers available in the area where the alien will work who can do the job at a normal wage/salary.

The Test Process

The labor certification process tests the local job market. Working with the State Employment Security Agency, the employer advertises the position and solicits resumes. It has to review each resume that comes in for the position and determine whether any of those candidates would be minimally qualified for the position. If so, the employer must call the candidate in and interview him or her to make a further determination. If there are no U.S. workers that are minimally qualified for the position, the employer will indicate this in its report to the SESA. Then it will wait for SESA’s decision.

Evaluation

The SESA will evaluate the employer’s recruitment efforts. There are a number of potential issues which the SESA could bring up in dispute. The SESA may feel that the employer’s salary is too low. It may feel that the job duties and description are too restrictive. It may argue that the employer’s review of the resumes was too critical, eliminating resumes that should have been considered for the position.

Decision and Appeal

If the SESA challenges any part of the employer’s recruitment process, it can ask the employer to redo the a part of the process. It may also deny the labor certification process. If the employer is given a second chance, it can provide further proof establishing that it did conduct a valid search effort. If the SESA chooses to deny the labor certification process, the employer may appeal such a denial to the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals.

If the SESA approves of the employer’s report agreeing that there is no minimally qualified U.S. worker, the employer can submit the approval with the alien’s application to be submitted to theUSCIS.

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Information Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service