Visa Solutions For Businesses

Alternatives To PERM

This section discusses employment based immigrant visas that are exempt from the PERM/Labor Certification process   Most foreign workers who are sponsored by their employers for permanent residence in the U.S. must undergo the PERM process. However, there are certain categories of employment-based immigrant visas that allow applicants and/or their employers to directly petition the USCIS, without having to file the PERM application with the Department of Labor. These are:

• Persons with extra ordinary ability
• Outstanding professors and researchers
• Multinational executives and managers
• National Interest Waiver

The first three categories are called priority workers (EB-1) while the fourth category – National Interest Waivers – is a part of the second preference (EB-2) category of immigrant visas.   In addition to the criterion listed above, certain occupations exempt employers from filing the labor certification for their foreign national employees. These occupations are those determined to be chronically short of U.S. workers. Presently, the regulations list only two occupations: registered nurses and physical therapists.   Contact the Law Offices of Sweta Khandelwal to see if you can potentially qualify for one of the categories above. Attorney Sweta Khandelwal has extensive experience in both the EB-1 and EB-2 categories of immigrant visas, whether or not they require a PERM application.