Changes abound in the American political climate these days. Donald Trump has just taken office amidst a chorus of cheers and jeers, and he start working to fulfill some of his promises to the American people. Trump has been particularly vocal about one particular issue: immigration reform.
This applies directly to the permanent labor certification procedures that have been in place since 2005. This program has done a pretty effective job at ensuring that foreign nationals are only hired for positions in America when it has been conclusively shown that no American’s are available to fill the position. When foreign nationals are hired, the permanent labor certification process has been the way to get them qualified to live and work in the country. Many Americans probably do not even know about this process and how it works – but those in the know would likely say it has done an excellent job at protecting the American workers and ensuring they get first dibs for all domestic jobs.
Trump would beg to differ with the status quo. His administration is likely to roll out some changes to the permanent labor certification process in the coming months. It is expected they will focus on the kinds of employment ads that businesses must run to show that no one is qualified for the position they seek to fill. Proving that they have posted ads in newspaper and job boards is one of many pre-requisites to the permanent labor certification process.
It is expected that new standards will allow for types of job searches that match the style of the times. Current regulation demands that a newspaper ad be run twice a week to gauge employment potentials. This is a poor way to test the American job market in today’s digital age, and it is expected that changes will be made to reflect that.
Another likely change will be the addition of a filing fee. It is currently free to apply for permanent labor certification, and it has been this way since the program’s inception. However, it has long been presumed that a filing fee will be introduced. This may apply to additional green card charges, as the two processes are currently intimately linked. The obvious benefit of a fee is that the administration will have enough income to hire more staff. The turnaround benefit of more staff is that files will be dealt with faster. It’s a win-win to bring a small fee component into the process because American businesses have expressed dissatisfaction with how long an application takes.
These three expected changes will ideally bring more foreign nationals into American at a faster pace. Such a development would not harm the job market for Americans and would help stimulate the science and technology sectors, where most of these foreign national’s work.
