Quick answer
What this page can help you verify
Many employer-sponsored EB-2 and EB-3 cases begin with permanent labor certification through the Department of Labor. The employer defines the actual minimum requirements, obtains a prevailing wage determination, completes the required recruitment and notice steps, and submits the PERM application. After certification, the employer normally files Form I-140 with USCIS. [1] [2] [3]
The stages must remain consistent. Job duties, worksite, minimum education and experience, alternative requirements, recruitment, beneficiary qualifications, offered wage, and employer records are compared across DOL and USCIS filings. Business or job changes can affect the case and should be analyzed before altering public recruitment, payroll, work location, or corporate structure. [2] [3]
Use this employer sponsorship guide to prepare records and questions about employer sponsorship review. It provides general information, does not decide eligibility, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Decision map
Questions that control the analysis
For employer sponsorship review, identify the legal branch before collecting documents. Begin with permanent position, prevailing wage, recruitment and notice; then match each unresolved point to a reliable record and the cited official instruction.
| Checkpoint | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Permanent position | Define a genuine permanent full-time opportunity, employer, worksite, duties, supervision, and actual minimum requirements. [1] |
| Prevailing wage | Use the DOL process to obtain a valid determination covering the position and intended area of employment. [2] |
| Recruitment and notice | Follow the current rule for the occupation and preserve the complete recruitment, applicant, posting, and notice record. [3] |
| Beneficiary qualifications | Prove the worker met the certified minimum requirements by the priority date without relying on disallowed experience. [4] |
| I-140 and visa stage | Document ability to pay, category classification, certification validity, priority date, status, and later adjustment or consular processing. [1] |
Process
A practical file-review sequence
- Audit the employer, position, minimum requirements, worksite, and beneficiary background before requesting the prevailing wage. [2]
- Obtain the wage determination and conduct recruitment and notice under the current DOL rule, documenting every date and result. [3]
- Review the PERM form line by line against recruitment, business records, beneficiary experience letters, and future I-140 evidence before submission. [4]
- After certification, prepare the I-140 within the certification's validity period with classification, qualifications, and ability-to-pay evidence. [1]
- Monitor business changes, job changes, priority date, visa availability, status, and adjustment or consular strategy through the final residence stage. [2]
Evidence plan
Records to organize before legal review
The evidence plan for employer sponsorship review should connect the controlling facts to employer, position, recruitment. Volume alone does not prove that a filing, response, or defense satisfies the applicable rule.
- Employer: Formation, FEIN, location, ownership, payroll, taxes, finances, organization, signatory authority, and business-need records.
- Position: Detailed duties, requirements, occupational code analysis, worksite, travel, supervision, tools, products, and internal comparators.
- Recruitment: Advertisements, postings, notices, résumés, contact records, lawful rejection reasons, recruitment report, and audit file.
- Beneficiary: Degrees, evaluations, transcripts, licenses, detailed experience letters, prior employment, and records proving qualifications by the priority date.
- I-140 and final stage: Certified PERM, ability-to-pay evidence, petition, priority date, status history, job-offer continuity, and immigrant-visa filings.
Record control
Build a chronology that another professional can audit
For employer sponsorship review, create one working table with five columns: date or period, event, document that proves it, unresolved conflict, and next action. Use exact dates from primary records where possible. Label estimates and record what would confirm them. Show conflicting records instead of silently choosing one before a signed filing or interview adopts that version.
For this guide, mark when each controlling issue began or changed: permanent position, prevailing wage, recruitment and notice, beneficiary qualifications, i-140 and visa stage. [1] The purpose is to see sequence and legal posture, not to create a persuasive story before the facts are complete. A petition approval, departure, arrest, marriage, filing, denial, court order, employer change, or agency notice can alter the analysis from that date forward.
Link every important event to the most reliable available record. Organize the file under these evidence groups: employer, position, recruitment, beneficiary, i-140 and final stage. Keep the original, a readable working copy, and any certified translation together. Record who created the document, when it was created, and whether the government has already received a different version.
For employer sponsorship review, add a source-control row for each legal or procedural assumption: official page title, URL, date checked, and any case-specific notice or order that supersedes the general page. [4] Before acting, flag every conclusion that still depends on memory, an unofficial summary, an incomplete record, an old form, or an unanswered question for counsel.
Risk check
Common mistakes that can change the case
- Writing requirements around one person's résumé rather than the employer's actual minimum needs. [3]
- Allowing advertisements, PERM form, experience letters, and I-140 filing to describe different requirements or duties. [4]
- Failing to document recruitment contacts and lawful job-related reasons for rejecting U.S. applicants. [1]
- Overlooking experience gained with the sponsoring employer, alternative-requirement, familial-relationship, layoff, or business-necessity issues. [2]
- Missing the I-140 filing window or assuming a certified PERM guarantees petition or green-card approval. [3]
Consultation preparation
Questions to take to a qualified lawyer
A consultation about employer sponsorship review is more useful when it begins with the controlling document, a dated chronology, and the complete prior record. Take the following questions and note where the lawyer's answer depends on missing evidence.
- Are the job duties and minimum requirements genuine, normal, and consistently documented?
- What prevailing-wage, worksite, recruitment, notice, or audit rules apply to this occupation?
- Did the beneficiary meet every requirement by the priority date with acceptable evidence?
- Can the employer establish ability to pay and continuity through the relevant period?
- How would a worksite, job, ownership, successor, layoff, or beneficiary-status change affect the process?
Primary sources
Official sources used for this guide
The sources below were used for employer sponsorship review. Verify the current form, instruction, policy, notice, court order, or consular post before acting because an individual file may have additional or later requirements.
- 1DOL FLAG PERM
Official PERM overview, eligibility, prevailing wage, recruitment, and filing steps.
Checked August 28, 2026.
- 2DOL permanent labor certification
Department of Labor program information and resources.
Checked August 28, 2026.
- 3
- 4State Department Visa Bulletin
Current EB-2 and EB-3 visa availability by priority date and chargeability.
Checked August 28, 2026.