Many of the PERM requirements are completed when the foreign national is initially recruited and hired.  To be eligible for a PERM, the hiring department must complete the following basic procedures:

1. Advertise the job opportunity in at least one (1) national professional journal;
2. Document why the foreign national was more qualified than any of the United States workers who applied for the job; and
3. Initiate the Permanent Residence sponsorship process with ISSS within eight (8) months after the selection is made.     

Advertising Requirements:

The advertisement must contain:

1. The name of the Rutgers Hiring Department
2. Work Location (City, State)
3. Position Title
4. Detailed Job Duties (specifically listing teaching duties and the subject being taught)
5. Minimum Job Requirements (Degree & Acceptable Field(s) of Study – Do not list preferences)
6. Name and Contact Information of Department Faculty/Staff Member who will answer questions from potential applicants

While job duties can be described generically (e.g. teaching and research in physics), advertisements must be very specific in stating the academic or professional degree required. This is because if a foreign national is ultimately hired he or she must meet the specified degree requirement in order for Rutgers to sponsor the person for a PERM-based green card. For example, if the advertisement states that a Ph.D. is required and you hire a foreign national in ABD status, he or she will not be eligible for PERM-based green card sponsorship, and the department would then have to wait several years or more for green card sponsorship until the individual could meet eligibility criteria for Outstanding Professor or Researcher.

The advertisement must be placed in a national professional journal for advertisements for college or university teachers.  The journal can be either print, electronic or web-based.   In certain cases, the national print journal is safer and we encourage its use if there is any slight uncertainty in meeting the web-based ad requirements.

If you choose to advertise on a web-based journal, the advertisement must be posted for at least 30 consecutive calendar days on the journal's website. If the discipline-specific journal in the field does not permit ads running for 30 days, departments may advertise in other acceptable online journals. Please note: The Chronicle of Higher Education is generally considered a safe place to advertise as it does allow online ads to run for 30 consecutive days.  You must save screenshots of the advertisement on the first date it was published and the last date (30th day) of posting and an invoice (documenting the start and end dates).  

There must also be a final [written] report of the faculty, student, and/or administrative body making the recommendation or selection of the alien at the completion of the competitive recruitment and selection process. The report must be signed and dated by the department or search committee chairperson, and it must include reference to the specific date on which the foreign national was selected for the job.

Further instructions on the PERM Labor Certification process can be found here.

Upon receipt of the initiation request, Rutgers Global–International Student and Scholar Services will review the international employee’s experience, credentials, type of appointment, job duties, etc. to determine whether the Outstanding Researcher / Professor category is appropriate.

For more information about the eligibility criteria for the Outstanding Researcher / Professor category, please click here (under “Rutgers-Sponsored Preference Categories”).  

Those who are not eligible for Rutgers sponsorship have the option to self sponsor. A few examples of employment-based permanent residence categories for which a foreign national is permitted by regulations to self sponsor are:

1. Alien of Extraordinary Ability, for which the employee must document he or she meets strict regulatory criteria that defines eligibility for this category.
2. National Interest Waiver, for which the employee must document that his or her work is so important to the United States' national interest that other eligibility criteria for a green card should be waived.

In self-sponsorship cases, the employee is permitted to hire an immigration attorney to represent him/her. However, since it is also possible for an employer to serve as the sponsor in either of these two categories, it is absolutely essential that the employee make it clear to any outside attorney that the employee—not Rutgers—is serving as the sponsor in this case.