There are three steps to gaining permanent residence through an employment based petition.  These steps are:

1.  Individual Labor Certificate.  This step, referred to as the PERM process, involves advertising the position in newspapers and in some cases in professional journals, filing a Job Order with the Department of Labor (DOL) and responding to applications submitted by U.S. citizens.  In this step, we will assist the employer to advertise the position, meet all of the requirements of the DOL such as placing the job order and the Notice of Job Opportunity, prepare the submission of the results of the advertising to the DOL and prepare the Final Report of all phases of the recruitment process for the employer’s file in case of a DOL audit.  A final report of the recruitment activities will be completed and a copy kept in our files, one will be sent to the Employer and one to the Beneficiary.  The DOL will have the right to audit the advertising campaign for up to five years.

Although the recruitment requirements are rigorous, the Department of Labor is stating that the process after filing the results of the recruitment with the Department of Labor will be completed and the Labor Certification issued within 90 days.  This step must be completed prior to filing a petition with USCIS.

2.  Permanent Employment Petition.  Form I-140 is filed after the labor certificate has been approved.  The adjudication of this petition takes about 8-12 months to be approved.  It is filed with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and describes the employer, the position and the qualifications of the employee.

3.  Adjustment of Status Application.  The final phase is Adjustment of Status.  Upon approval the applicant receives the Green Card.  Although the process of adjusting status may take 18-30 months to complete, an authorization to work as a permanent resident and the Advance Parole can be approved within two to six months after the submission of the application.  Consequently, a Green Card applicant can be approved to work, based on the application to become a permanent resident, within about six months or less.  The Advance Parole will also give the applicant the freedom to travel outside the U.S. without a visa.  At this time, there is a possibility to file the second and third steps concurrently if a quota number is available  We will discuss this with you to determine which method is best for your case.

For the fee we quote, we will prepare all applications, petitions, accompanying documents and anything USCIS and DOL requires to adjudicate these applications.
We will serve each client from the initiation of his/her case until the Green Card has actually been received.  We do not charge extra for administrative expenses (Priority Mail, etc), but there are some USCIS filing fees.  There is an additional charge for
each dependant’s Adjustment of Status petition.  Please request a current fee
schedule from us.  You will be responsible for the cost of the newspaper advertising,
an evaluation of a college degree (if necessary to this case), translation of documents
(if necessary) the physical examination and the filing fees to USCIS.  Although the process is expensive and takes time, it is well worth it because it is a permanent
solution to the visa and work authorization problems.  Those who complete this
process never have to deal with USCIS again (unless they want to be naturalized)
and do not have to get a visa when they travel outside the U.S. for less than six
months per trip.