This employment-based (EB) immigrant petition takes three steps to obtain permanent residence for your alien employee: (1) PERM labor certification; (2) I-140 immigrant petition; and (3) application for adjustment of status. Throughout these three steps, I will work as the immigration attorney both for your employee and for your company unless either of you has your own attorney.  Below is a summary of what we will do for the first step:

1. We will gather necessary information about the job opportunity, the employer and the alien employee after we sign the Attorney-Client Agreement and receive the initial attorney's fee payment from you.

2. We will contact the employer about the PERM account registration with instructions.

3. We will draft the advertisement for your review and approval. After you have approved the ad draft, our office or your company will make the prevailing wage determination with the respective state agency.

4. If the prevailing wage determination is fine, our office will place the 30-day job order with the state workforce agency except in some states the employer is required to place the job order.

5. Our office will contact media publishers about the advertisements if you want us to do it. After we get the rate quotes from the publishers, you will make decision on the selection and make the payments.

6. You will post the notice of filing (internal job posting) that we prepare for this application. The notice will be posted for ten business days.

7. You will receive the resumes or applications in response to the advertisements and conduct the recruitments. We may assist you in screening the applicants, if any, by providing instructions.

8. After you complete the recruitment, we will prepare necessary documents for your review and approval. Then I will file the application online and obtain the certification (approval).

9. Once we receive the approval notice from US Department of Labor, we will request additional documents (such as corporate tax returns if you have fewer than 100 employees) from you and prepare the I-140 immigrant petition. The I-140 petition will be sent to you for review and approval before we file it with USCIS.

10. We will prepare and file the I-485 application(s) when the priority date becomes current (immigrant visa number is available) and we will keep you updated of the progress until the alien employee receives the permanent residence!

Contact Xielaw if you have any questions about the PERM based green card application or when you are ready to start the application process with us.