PERM Eligibility Requirements

The Position Must Involve Teaching

In order to qualify, the occupational position must be one that involves teaching at an institution of higher education. Faculty positions that solely involve non-teaching activities such as researchers, librarians, and other administrative staff do not qualify and must be filed using normal PERM processing. Yet, these non-teaching faculty positions will be eligible for special handling if they involve “some” amount of classroom teaching in addition to the non-teaching activities.

The Application Must Be Filed Within 18 Months after Selection

To qualify for special handling PERM processing, the employer must file the PERM application within 18 months after the foreign national teacher has been selected. This date may not actually be clear in some circumstances, so in those cases, the date may be considered to be the date the job offer is made to the foreign national teacher. If the teacher has already been employed in the position for 18 months, it then becomes too late to apply for special handling.

Recruitment Consists of a Single Posting in a Professional Journal

The position offered and received by the foreign national teacher must have been advertised at least once in a professional journal.

This posting may be made in one of two ways:

• Posted one time in a hard copy version of a national professional journal
• Posted for at least a 30-calendar-day period in a web-based version of the journal

Notice of Filing (NOF) Requirement

The employer must make an internal job posting of the position using what is known as a notice of filing (or NOF) that contains the required information including the job title, the duties and requirements of the position, and other information required by regulation. Unlike the normal PERM process, the NOF is not required to disclose the salary being offered for the position. The NOF must be posted for at least a period of 10 consecutive business days, and this posting period must be completed between 30 days and 180 days before the PERM application is filed. 

If you would like further information about the PERM special handling process or any other immigration matter, please contact our Columbus immigration attorneys at (800) 625-3404.