Strategy roadmap

The employer-sponsored green card: PERM

For most employer-sponsored green cards, the road runs through PERM labor certification — a structured, sequenced process involving two federal agencies. It rewards planning and punishes shortcuts. Here is how it works.

An illustrative roadmap to help you picture the path — not legal advice or a guarantee of any outcome.
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Driven by the employer, for the employee

PERM is the employer’s case, start to finish — the company sponsors a permanent role it needs filled, and the employer drives every stage. The green card is the employee’s, and both sides have a part to play; we counsel both.

Which are you? — tap to explore (optional)
The employer
Sponsoring a role you need to keep filled.

The company defines the permanent position, tests the labor market through a prescribed recruitment process, and pays the costs of the labor certification stage. We keep the process compliant and the burden on your team light — including for H-1B employees whose timelines depend on it.

The employee
Working here — often on H-1B — and ready for permanence.

Your credentials and experience must match the role as defined — documented precisely, because the match is tested at every stage. Timing matters too: filing milestones can extend work status while the green card is pending.

Some candidates may also qualify for self-petitioned routes that skip PERM entirely — worth checking before committing to this path. See the self-petition roadmap.
Step by step

A sequenced process — order is everything

Each stage must be completed — and documented — before the next begins.

Define
The permanent role — duties and minimum requirements, set before anything else and held fixed throughout
Wage
Prevailing wage determination — the Department of Labor sets the wage floor for the role and location
Recruit
A good-faith test of the U.S. labor market — prescribed advertisements, on a prescribed schedule, with every response reviewed and documented
Certify
The labor certification is filed with the Department of Labor — approval certifies no able, willing, qualified U.S. worker was found
Petition
The I-140 immigrant petition with USCIS — the employer's ability to pay, and the employee's qualifications, proven on paper
Green card
Adjustment of status or consular processing — when a visa number is available for the employee’s category and country
Timelines vary by agency workload and by the employee’s visa-bulletin category — we set expectations from current processing information at the outset, and plan around them. When the case finishes through adjustment of status, current USCIS policy treats that step as discretionary — we build out the positive equities accordingly. Read more about Jack’s approach
The heart of PERM

The recruitment test

PERM’s central requirement: the employer must test the U.S. labor market for the role, in good faith, before sponsoring a foreign worker for it. The rules are exacting — and the file must show they were followed.

Prescribed advertising
specific placements, specific content, on a specific schedule — set by regulation, not preference
Every applicant reviewed
each U.S. applicant assessed against the role’s stated requirements, with lawful, documented reasons for every outcome
A complete audit file
the Department of Labor can audit any case — the file is built audit-ready from day one, not reconstructed later
Quiet periods and timing rules
recruitment results have a shelf life, and filings must land inside prescribed windows — the calendar is part of the strategy
This is where PERM cases are won or lost. A defect in recruitment usually can’t be patched — the stage must be redone. Getting it right the first time is the whole strategy.
Plan the calendar

Timing is strategy

For employees on temporary status, when each PERM milestone lands can matter as much as whether it does.

H-1B holders
Reaching certain PERM and I-140 milestones can support extending H-1B status beyond its usual six-year limit — so the green card timeline and the work-visa timeline are planned as one.
Visa bulletin
The final step waits for a visa number, which depends on the employee’s category and country of birth — for some, immediate; for others, a queue we plan around from the start.
Job changes, promotions, and relocations mid-process can affect the case — flag them early and we plan the move, not the repair.
Build the case

How we build it

The role defined carefully, up front
requirements that reflect the real job and the candidate’s real credentials — the foundation every later stage stands on
A recruitment calendar managed for you
every placement, window, and quiet period tracked — HR gets a checklist, not a regulation to interpret
Every document reviewed twice over
Jack checks each item for individual merit and for consistency across the file — the audit-proofing happens as the file is built
A custom client portal for both sides
employer and employee each see their documents, deadlines, and next steps — without chasing each other

That portal is jimmi™ — your immigration companion. A glimpse of a PERM case underway:

✓Wage
●Recruitment
3PERM filing
4I-140
5Green card
Recruitment underway — two placements live, one scheduled.
Recruitment window closes
Ad cycle 2 of 3
in 18 days
Recruitment_Log_Week4.pdf
Jack Attorney
Log looks complete. Keep every applicant response — the file must show how each one was assessed.
R. Chen HR Director
All saved to the portal — the checklist makes this easy.
Illustrative sample — not a real case.
Next step

A permanent role deserves a permanent plan

PERM rewards early planning — the role definition, the calendar, and the employee’s status timeline all work better when they’re set together at the outset. Whether you’re an employer or an employee, the first step is the same.

Book a consultation

Eligibility, sequencing, and timelines depend on the role, the employee’s status and country of birth, and current agency processing. We assess every case individually.

An illustrative roadmap — not legal advice or a guarantee of any outcome.

© Jrada Immigration, P.C. 2026

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