Permanent Labor Certification Program Data, 2000-2007

A permanent labor certification issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) allows an employer to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the United States. In most instances, before the U.S. employer can submit an immigration petition to the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the employer must obtain a certified labor certification application from the DOL's Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The DOL must certify to the USCIS that there are not sufficient U.S. workers able, willing, qualified and available to accept the job opportunity in the area of intended employment and that employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. In carrying out its responsibility for the processing of labor certification and labor attestation applications, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) generates program data that is essential both for internal assessment of program effectiveness and for providing the Department's external stakeholders with useful information about the immigration programs administered by OFLC. The data in this collection include information specifically about the Permanent Labor Certification Program.