Labor Certification

Overview

Labor certification is designed by the U.S. Department of Labor to assure that the admission of aliens to work in this country on a permanent or temporary basis will not adversely affect the job opportunities, wages and working conditions of U.S. workers.

Most employment-based immigrant visa petitions begin with the labor certification. The alien beneficiary of the immigrant visa must first obtain an offer of permanent full-time employment from a U.S. employer. The employer then obtains a labor certification attesting that there are no “available and qualified” U.S. workers for the position offered to the alien and that the wages and working conditions offered will not adversely affect those similarly employed U.S. workers.

Eligibility Requirements

The following conditions must be met in order to have a successful labor certification:

* The employer must prove that there are no available and qualified U.S. workers for the position offered through a recruitment process;
* That the employment of the alien will not result in the the displacement of U.S. workers;
* The employer must have the ability to pay the prevailing wage of the alien for the position offered;
* The alien employee must have the necessary skills or at least meet the minimum qualifications required for the position offered.