Need help: Getting Labor Cirtification for H1-B?

[bensfish]

I'm so glad to find this forum. Hopefully, someone can steer me to the right direction. I'm helping a friend who is currently working for a small company with a H1-B Visa as an accountant. What would be her chance of getting the Labor Certification in this economy? Here's a little history about her

1. She has a Master Degree, but the job only require a Bachelor Degree, so she would fall into the EB-3 preference category.
2. She has been at this job for about a year and half.
3. Have two years of experience in accounting before she came to the US
4. Should she ask her employer to file for the Labor Certification or should she wait since we are in recession now?
5. How long will it get (waiting time and process time) before she can apply for green card approval?

Thanks in advance
Ben

[txh1b]

Are you asking about a LC for GC or a H1b?

[bensfish]

txh1b,
My friend already has a H1-B. This is for the Labor Certification (LC) for GC. From what I know, the employer has to prove to the Labor Department that there is no qualified US worker for the job in order for my friend to get the LC. What special requirements needed as an accountant in order to receive the LC?

Thanks,
Ben

[txh1b]

It is too difficult to say if they can apply for LC now or not. They have to go through the advertising procedure for the job before they can apply for the labor. If the job received enough US citizens or GC holder resumes, they may not be able to file for the labor.

[bensfish]

txh1b
With this economy, many people will put anything on the resume', just so they can get an opportunity for an interview. But, that doesn't mean they qualify for a particular job. So, a company might get more resume' than it would normal get, but there is a chance that the pool of resume' might not have a single qualified candidate.
So, the Labor Department just look at the number of resume' that a company received (total number of resume -- doesn't care if some of the resume qualify for the job or not) from an adverisement OR number of "qualified resume" from the pool? ......to determine if they will grant the Labor Certification or not !

Ben

[txh1b]

You are now getting into the nitty gritty details of the LC process which an attorney can explain better. In laymans terms, if the company gets a qualified candidate's resume, they have to maintain every document about the phone interview, the personal interview of the candidate and why they were not chosen for DOL to look at if needed.

Just getting resumes is not the end of it. The company HR and lawyer has to do a lot of work if that happens and that has deterred many companies to file in this economy.

There are companies that have spent $10k or more on flying in each of all qualified candidates for a personal interview, provide car/accomodations at the job site for the interview, spend time of managers etc. Which company has such kind of money to spend in this economy? Even if they do, are they willing?

They have to spend lot of time of the HR and the hiring manager's time, document everything from the hiring process, as it can disqualify a company from ever hiring an immigrant if they circumvent or try to do so with respect to the DOL LC process.

Talk to your immigration lawyer for more details or do a whole lot of reading on this subject on the internet.

[brendafu]

LC petition

Hi Ben,

I agree that the current bad economy might not be a good time to go through the LC petition as your friend's company probably will receive a lot of applicants for her accountant position. My understanding is if her company gets a qualified local candidate applied for her position, then the LC petition might not be able to continue. Your friend have to further consult with the attorney.

Also, the other crucial factor is does her company really want to support her Green Card appliction, in other words, does it really want to keep her for years ......?

Like my experiences, my company really wants to keep me since they always have difficulties in finding a right person for my position. They supported my Green Card application in turn of attorney fee and documentations.....It took almost 6 months to approve the LC.

Good luck for your friend

PT

[bensfish]

txh1b -- Thanks for the feedbacks


PT,
My friend is pretty much in similar situation like yours. She does more than just accounting in this company. As you know, one person requires to "wear many hats" in a small/mid size company. The company really values her contributions and want to keep her for years. One issue, she doesn't know any source (attoney) that is specializing in doing these LC documentations. Did you have your own attorney or everything went through the company's attorney? Any lead will be appreciate.

Thanks,
Ben