DO WE STILL NEED PERM LABOR CERTIFICATION? AN ANALYSIS OF THE MERITS-BASED POINTS SYSTEM IN BSEOIMA
by Gary Endelman and Cyrus D. Mehta
- 15 points for a doctoral degree
- 10 points for a master’s degree
- 5 points for a bachelor’s degree from an institution of higher education in the US
- 3 points for each year an alien has been lawfully employed in a zone 5 occupation
- 2 points for each year the alien has been lawfully employed in a zone 4 occupation
- In a zone 5 occupation shall be allocated 10 points
- In a zone 4 occupation shall be allo0cated 8 points
- between 18 and 24 years of age shall be allocated 8 points
- between 25 and 32 years of age shall be allocated 6 points
- between 33 and 37 years of age shall be allocated 4 points
- in a high demand tier 2 occupation shall be allocated 10 points
- in a zone 1 occupation or zone 2 occupation shall be allocated 10 points
An alien who is or has been a primary caregiver shall be allocated 10 points
- 75 or more shall be allocated 10 points
- More than 54 and less than 75 shall be allocated 5 points
An alien who is the sibling of a citizen of the US or is over the age of 31 and is the married son or married daughter of a citizen of the US shall be allocated 10 points
H. Age
- Between 18 and 24 years of age shall be allocated 8 points
- Between 25 and 32 years of age shall be allocated 6 points
- Between 33 and 37 years of age shall be allocated 4 points
In contrast to the Canadian experience, immigrants to the US have virtually closed the income gap with American-born workers. In 1980, US immigrants earned about 80 per cent of American-born workers, a gap that was roughly the same in Canada. By 2011, US immigrants earned 93% of native-born workers, while foreign-born college graduates now out-earn their American counterparts. During the last recession, the unemployment rate for foreign-born university grads in Canada topped out at 8.4 per cent in 2010( Among those who lived in the country less than 5 years, it was more than 14 per cent.) By comparison, unemployment among foreign-born graduates in the US was 4.4 per cent.
About The Author
Gary Endelman is a Senior Counsel at FosterQuan, Houston, TX. His practice includes I-9 compliance and audits, E-Verify compliance, immigration issues related to mergers and acquisitions, employment-based nonimmigrant visas, B-1 OCS, permanent residence petitions for ability, outstanding researchers, PERM labor certification; naturalization, derivation and transmission of U.S. citizenship. Mr. Endelman graduated with a B.A. in History from the University of Virginia, a Ph.D. in United States History from the University of Delaware, and a J.D. from the University of Houston. From 1985 to 1995, he worked at one of the largest immigration firms in the country. From 1995 to 2011, he worked as the in-house immigration counsel for BP America Inc., a multinational energy company ranked as one of the top 5 largest companies in the world. Mr. Endelman is board certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the State Bar of Texas, Board of Legal Specialization and Chair of the Examinations Committee in Immigration and Nationality Law for the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is a frequent national speaker and writer on immigration related topics including several columns and blogs on immigration law. He served as a senior editor of the national conference handbook published by AILA for ten years. In July 2005, Mr. Endelman testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on comprehensive immigration reform. Please contact Gary Endelman at gendelman@fosterquan.com. The views expressed by Mr. Endelman in this article are his personally and not those of FosterQuan, LLP.
Cyrus D. Mehta, a graduate of Cambridge University and Columbia Law School, is the Managing Member of Cyrus D. Mehta & Associates, PLLC in New York City. He is the current Chair of AILA's Ethics Committee and former Chair of AILA's Pro Bono Committee. He is also the former Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council (2004-06) and Chair of the Committee on Immigration and Nationality Law (2000-03) of the New York City Bar Association. He is a frequent speaker and writer on various immigration-related issues, including on administrative remedies and ethics, and is also an adjunct associate professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches a course entitled "Immigration and Work." Mr. Mehta received the AILA 2011 Michael Maggio Memorial Award for his outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the immigration field.