John, a British national, has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and wishes to work in the U.S. as an assistant professor at a university. In the recent issue of The Journal of Biochemistry, he saw an opening at John Hopkins University for an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, which would involve teaching, research and requires a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. After undergoing an extensive recruitment and selection process, JHU decides to hire John for the position.
John now may apply labor certification to obtain USget his permanent residence of the U.S. His many options include the regular PERM processing, Special Handling, National Interest Waiver (NIW), and EB-1(b). John sees that the regular PERM process is complex. Furthermore, if he chooses to apply through NIW or EB-1 (b), he may need to provide a great deal of documentation and recommendation letters on his own if he hopes to have his petition approved. However, NIW would give John the ability to self-petition and not be as dependent on his employer to file the petition. Special Handling does not require John to get recommendation letters or documentation of his publications, but does require that him his Labor Certification application be submittedto apply within 18 months from the date that the date of the recruitment decision was made to offer hims the position. The employing University must haveand provide an advertisedment for the job from a national professional journal, maintain documentation of the recruitment process, and post a Notice of Filing between 30 and 180 days before filing the petition. Furthermore, this processSpecial Handling is more dependent on the employer providing key information on the recruitment process and procedures because the employee is the beneficiary of the petition.
After weighing his options, John decides to file through Special Handling due to its relative simplicity and lack of extensive documentation on his behalf (employer must provide documentation in this case, not applicant). JHU made the hiring decision in April 2006 and John will begin working September 2006. Upon John’s request, the university applies for labor certification through Special Handling for John in August 2006. The university has provided the necessary documents describing the recruitment efforts, and all necessary paperwork has been submitted to the Department of Labor. As in a typical case, the Sspecial Hhandling PERM should be approved inafter 2-3 months. After John receives his labor certification approval he can move on to the next step in the green card process: I-140/I-485 after John receives his labor certificationfiling.
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