Approvals: Expiration, Validity, Portability & Duplicates

After DOL issues a PERM approval, the employer has 180 days to file an immigrant petition for the alien named in the application. The PERM approval is normally valid for a specific job and specific alien in a particular area of intended employment.

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When DOL issues a PERM certification, both the employer and the beneficiary must sign it immediately. After approval, certification has a validity period of 180 days during which it may be filed with Form I-140 and supporting documentation to request n preference classification from USCIS. See The Who, What, When, Where of Labor Certification Determinations by Rebecca L. Sigmund in the PERM Book Library.

PERM approvals are normally valid only for a specific job offer in a particular location for the named beneficiary. Job offers are tied to prevailing wage determinations, which vary from location to location and to specific beneficiaries.

An applicant whose adjustment of status process has been pending at USCIS for 180 days or more and who has an approved I-140 based on a labor certification can port to a new employer, provided that the new job is the same or similar to the one certified. Other conditions must also be satisfied.

If a PERM approval is lost, the C.O. will issue a duplicate labor certification to a consular or immigration officer upon written request with evidence from a consular or immigration officer that a visa application or visa petition has been filed. Instructions on form I-140 also offer this opportunity.