Immigration Law

March 14: PERM Workshop in NYC

By Joel Stewart

Mark your calendar. March 14th the PERM Team will be back with another PERM Workshop. In case you have not been to an ILW Workshop, as Cole Porter said, they are definitely the top.

You immerse yourself in PERM all day, and even during lunch. Sam Udani makes each Workshop a delectable gourmet experience, but there is no other opportunity anywhere to immerse yourself in an intense PERM forum, where you can share your thoughts, experiences, and questions which each other and learn everything you wanted to know about PERM.

DOL has given us the PERM Regulation and Frequently Asked Questions, and BALCA has given us some PERM decisions, but much is still left open to interpretation, practice, ethics and practical considerations.

Since PERM is a new phenomenon, there are very few signposts to point the way. Every question on the PERM form raises questions, doubts and nuances. For example, if multiple jobs are offered in a PERM application, where and how must this be set forth? And what about the Substitution Rule in Practice and its effect on Attorney Fees? The answer to this and other tough questions will surprise you.

The PERM Workshops are divided into four sessions: two in the morning and two in the afternoon. The lunch period is also all PERM, with a special PERM speaker to peak your interest with interesting, innovative points of view. The last Workshop featured a lunch speaker which began with a discussion of outsourcing and ended up being a broad-based discussion of PERM practices and how to optimize them.

The first session is dedicated to the mechanics of PERM: How to Prepare a 9089 Form. The discussion includes Understanding O*Net, Job Zones & SVP, How to use the DOL's Trinary System, SVP Ranges, Competency Levels, and Educational Ratings for Schedule D Professionals, and Prevailing Wage.

The second session covers the recruitment process and includes Tips for Advertising, How to Manage the Campaign in 180 Days or Less, Analysis of the 10 Professional Recruitment Options, Review of Resumes, Contacting and Interviewing US Workers, Recruitment Reports and Preparing the Record File and Supporting Documents.

The third session is everything you wanted to know about restrictive requirements and more. Restrictive Requirements, Audit Proofing, and Electronic Filing Defining Normal Requirements, Foreign Languages, Combination of Occupations, Alternative Requirements, Actual Minimum Requirements, Combinations of Education Experience, and Training, Layoffs, Alien Influence and Control, Documentation of Employer, Job Requirements v. Alien Qualifications, How to Fill in H-4 to H-10, When and Where to Put the Magic Language, and Tips on Electronic Filing.

The last session of the day deals with Audits and Post Audit Issues:  Demystifying Audit Letters, Deciding whether to File Reconsideration or Appeals to BALCA, & Federal Court Litigation, Final Determinations, Retention of Documents, CO Requests for supplemental information, Supervised Recruitment Pros & Cons, Motions to Reconsider with or without Request for Appeal, BALCA Decisions, including Matter of Health America, Legal Arguments on Appeal, Introduction of New Facts into the Record and Exhausting Administrative Appeals.

The Workshop ends on a very positive note with camaraderie and friendship bonded between the participants and the speakers. I hope you will have a chance to attend our Workshop in NYC on March 14th, or if not, another one of our Workshops given around the country.

For further information, see the official announcement on the ILW main page.

Full post as published by Joel Stewart's Blog on February 25, 2008 (boomark / email).