White House completes review of proposal to modernise PERM programme

The White House has completed its review of a proposed overhaul of the US PERM labour certification programme for green card sponsorship. The reforms aim to tighten recruitment standards, strengthen protections against layoffs and reinforce employer non-discrimination requirements

Washington: The White House has completed the review of a proposal to modernise the permanent labour certification process (PERM), considered as the first step for sponsoring foreign workers for a green card.

The Department of Labour proposal seeks to revise the labour market test and other aspects of the PERM programme which were last modified in 2004.

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It had submitted the proposal to the Office of Management and Budget of the White House for review in July.

The agency is advancing the proposal amid a broader enforcement crackdown targeting the PERM programme by the US administration as part of the actions taken by the Anti-Fraud Taskforce led by Vice President J D Vance.

Earlier this month, the US suspended PERM programmes of Microsoft, Adobe and six other tech employers such as Infosys Technologies and Tata Group.

The specific content of the proposal will not be known until publication, but according to the description of the proposed rule, it would revise the minimum standards for PERM recruitment, strengthen rules related to US worker layoffs and enhance employer non-discrimination rules.

Once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, it is expected that the Department of Labour will accept public comments for 30 or 60 days.

The regulation will not take effect until public comments are considered and the rule is finalised.

The Department of Labour says that the rule would seek to revise the minimum standards for recruiting qualified US workers in the PERM labour market test.

It also seeks to strengthen rules related to US worker layoffs and employer compliance with non-discrimination requirements in recruitment and hiring.