Chapter 3: Labor Certification
- 1 min
As mentioned in the overview, the first step in the process is the labor certification step, which focuses on determining a need to hire a foreign national.
In this step, your employer will provide justification for petitioning a foreign national by performing a U.S. labor market test, proving that there are insufficient U.S. workers who are willing, able and qualified to perform the duties required for the job. This will consist of a period of 30-180 days in which a job posting with the position description and requirements is to be advertised, allowing candidates to apply and have their resumes reviewed to ensure that there are no other qualified U.S. workers available.
The second part to this step is obtaining a prevailing wage determination from the Department of Labor (DOL), ensuring that at least the prevailing wage is being offered for the position.
Your role in this first step will be very hands-off as this part will be handled by your employer and your attorney.
Tips
What I recommend is you use this time to start preparing the documents and information required for the next steps.
Take a look at the required documents and tips for the next two sections and begin organizing them such that you have them ready to go as early as possible.
Relevant Links and Further Reading
Joel Marquez
Senior Software Engineering Manager @ Microsoft