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September 2024 PERM Tip: Omitting a Travel Requirement

September 04, 2024 (1 min read)

BIB Daily presents bimonthly PERM practice tips from Ron Wada, member of the Editorial Board for Bender’s Immigration Bulletin and author of the 10+ year series of BALCA review articles, “Shaping the Future of PERM.” Questions or comments may be sent to Ron at ron.wada@tandslaw.com.

Attorneys are careful to disclose travel requirements as part of the job description for a PERM application because of the risks of denial of certification by the CO, as repeatedly verified by unpleasant past experience.  However, according to BALCA, omission of a travel requirement from the PWD and the 9089, inadvertent or otherwise, is not sufficient grounds for denial of a PERM application!  This is because (1) the regulations governing prevailing wage determinations do not specify content requirements for the PWD, and (2) the DOL Certifying Officer has never articulated a rational basis for its belief that a travel requirement should merit a “bump” in the resulting prevailing wage level. 

For further information, see:

  1. Ron Wada, “Shaping the Future of PERM – BALCA Highlights 1Q & 2Q 2023,” 28 Bender’s Immigr. Bull. 1313, 1318 (Aug. 1, 2023).
  2. Matter of International Gas and Oil Trading, Inc., 2023 BALCA LEXIS 269 (June 22, 2023).
  3. Ron Wada, “Shaping the Future of PERM – 2021 Review of BALCA Policies on Travel, Relocation, Imputed Travel, and Telecommuting,” 27 Bender’s Immigr. Bull. 755 (May 1, 2022).

Copyright 2024 Ron Wada, All Rights Reserved Worldwide

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