PERM Audit File: Your Employer Responsibilities
Under the PERM labor certification process, you don’t submit supporting documents with your PERM application. Instead, you must maintain a comprehensive audit file for potential U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) review.
If the PERM application is approved, the employer can then file an immigrant petition (Form I-140) with USCIS to start the green card process.
Here’s a summary of your document retention obligations:
Maintain Your Audit File for Five Years
The DOL can audit your PERM application before approval or for up to five years from the filing date. This means, you need to keep the “compliance file” or “audit file” for five years from the date of filing your PERM application. You can discard files for cases filed over five years ago.
Key Documents for Your PERM Audit File:
- Prevailing Wage: Keep the official Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) obtained from the DOL.
- Recruitment:
- Proof of the State Workforce Agency (SWA) job order and newspaper tear sheets for the newspaper advertisement.
- For professional roles, evidence of three additional recruitment methods.
- The job posting notice and proof of mailing to any union representative, if any exists.
- If recent layoffs occurred, documentation showing outreach and consideration of qualified, laid-off U.S. workers.
- Recruitment Results: A summary of all applicants, resumes of those who applied, records of contact (emails, call logs), interview notes, and rejection documentation explaining why U.S. applicants were not able, willing and qualified for the job.
Company Information
In certain cases, such as those involving familial relationships between the sponsored employee and a stockholder, corporate officer, incorporator, or partner of the sponsoring company, include proof of the company’s existence like articles of incorporation, financial records, business licenses, and brochures.
Sponsored Employee’s Qualifications
Evidence that the sponsored employee met the job requirements at the time of filing, including:
Business Necessity (if applicable)
If your job requirements exceed standard DOL norms, include a business necessity letter explaining the specific business reasons the stated level of education and/or experience is higher than the standard DOL norms for the position.
This letter must establish that the company requires this particular level of education and/or experience due to its particular business requirements.
The letter should be supported with resumes of current employees in the same role and industry data showing that the employer’s stated requirements are within the industry norm (job ads from other employers, alternative wage surveys, DOL resources like the Occupational Outlook Handbook).
Ability to Pay the Offered Wage
Documentation proving your company’s financial capacity to pay the offered wage from the filing date. This typically includes tax returns, audited financial statements, annual reports, and other documents showing the company’s financial ability to pay the wage.
PERM Audit Processing Time
PERM audit Processing Time can vary depending on the individual circumstances of the case. However, on average PERM Audit Processing Time is 6 to 9 months.
Malescu Law can assist
We successfully file PERM labor certifications for EB-2 and EB-3 green cards.
Our experienced immigration lawyers go beyond filing – we prepare audit-ready compliance files from the beginning, safeguarding our employer clients against potential DOL scrutiny by ensuring full compliance at every stage.
We serve companies and individuals across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Contact us or schedule a consultation.
Malescu Law P.A. – Business & Immigration Lawyers
