PERM Green Card Processing for Physicians

Moving from Labor Certification to Permanent Residence Status for Physicians

The shortage of physicians in several fields makes labor certification comparatively simple for physicians. Also, because there are minimal government requirements for licensing and board certification conditions for specialists, the labor certification process has higher possibilities for success.

The Law Firm of Shihab & Associates can walk you through PERM green card processing. Our Columbus immigration attorneys have decades of combined experience handling these kinds of matters.

Get in touch with us at (888) 915-5057. We have offices in Columbus Ohio, Cleveland Ohio, Southfield Michigan and Washington, D.C.

Labor Certification for Physicians

Typically, labor certification is only one option available to physicians.

Other options include:

• The national interest waiver petition
• The extraordinary ability petition
• The exceptional ability petition

Labor certification differs from the national interest waiver and extraordinary ability petitions because it is based on employer sponsorship. Further, the labor certification cannot be used if the non-citizen switches employers unless the process starts over. This is a bit less strict than when non-citizen physicians receive the J-1 waiver through a state or federal agency because he or she is bound to the initial employer. If you are a physician desiring to file for permanent residence, contact the competent attorneys at The Law Firm of Shihab & Associates for a consultation.

Advantage of the Labor Certification

The main advantage of labor certification belongs to physicians who are unable to show any extraordinary ability yet wish to be as mobile as possible. Additionally, the national interest waiver cannot result in permanent residence until after completing five years of service in an underserved area. Accordingly, it is important to keep in mind that adjusting his or her status, therefore, takes much more time. However, if a labor certification is started by a certain time, adjustment of status filing can be completed within three years of the normal service requirement of the J-1 waiver.

Sponsoring Physicians

The most common sponsor for a foreign physician is his or her current employer. However, the labor certification sponsor may be the prospective employer even in a different location who could possibly be offering the physician work in an entirely different specialty area. An H-1B visa essentially provides immediate flexibility, but a physician should be hesitant to move to a new employer outside of an underserved area until the labor certification has been approved.

Additionally, some physicians might think it would be beneficial to set up a medical practice company in order to have that company file for H-1B status and for labor certification. However, the Department of Labor refuses to recognize that an employer controlled by the alien physician can test the labor market in good faith. Therefore, this should not be done. If a physician is coming to the end of the typical six-year limit in H-1B status, he or she should not be disappointed by the labor certification backlog. This is due to the fact that H-1B visas can be supplemented by additional one-year increments.

Filing the Labor Certification & Adjustment of Status

It is typically recommended that once an alien physician can find an employer whose offer is likely to last for a substantial time, labor certification should be pursued as soon as possible. This is because the labor certification can take a very long time. Additionally, it is required that the alien qualifies for the position at the time that the labor certification is filed. Essentially, this is important because if an employer is willing to hire an alien whose credentials are not satisfactory, the employer should be willing to hire a U.S. citizen who does not qualify either.

After labor certification approval, the I-140 can be filed. The I-140 is the immigrant petition and it can be filed at any time on its own or jointly with the adjustment of status application. It is important to know that someone seeking an immigrant visa must consider unanticipated problems with the application that may keep the physician outside of the U.S. to wait for final processing. If the person has an H-1B visa, this may not be as big of an issue, although the dangers of foreign processing should be known.