Permanent Labor Certification

Permanent Labor Certification (not to be confused with the Labor Condition Application, LCA) is a process step required by some categories of employment-based immigration to the United States of America. Its stated goal is to "protect U.S. workers and the U.S. labor market by ensuring that foreign workers seeking immigrant visa classifications are not displacing equally qualified and willing U.S. workers". U.S. workers are defined as U.S. citizens, nationals or U.S. lawful permanent residents.

In 2005, an electronic filing system for Permanent Labor Certification was introduced called Program Electronic Review Management or PERM, a widely used term by which the process as a whole is now known.

There are several options available to U.S. employers who wish to hire foreign, non-immigrant workers on a temporary but long-term basis: H-1B visas, L-1 visas, TN status, and other options. These temporary options are often sufficient to meet the needs of employer and employee. When a U.S. employer wishes to hire the services of the foreign worker on a permanent basis, however, a complex sponsorship process for the green card begins, a process that can take years. Generally (although not always), the first step in that process is Permanent Labor Certification, which is a process of proving that there are no qualified and willing U.S. workers for the position being offered. Legally speaking, if there is even one minimally qualified U.S. worker available, then the foreign worker cannot be offered the position on a permanent basis. However, this does not necessarily mean that the foreign worker will be immediately replaced by the U.S. worker. The foreign worker can still serve out the remainder of their existing U.S. temporary visa, and their employer is permitted to re-apply for Permanent Labor Certification for sponsoring their employment-based green card. But it does create a substantial inconvenience for the U.S. employer who wishes to hire a foreign worker, which does provide some protection to U.S. workers, although the process is controversial.