· Business Immigration Law · 2 min read
How Much Does PERM Labor Certification Cost?
A breakdown of PERM costs: government fees, mandatory recruitment expenses, attorney fees, and who is legally required to pay each.
PERM has no government filing fee for the ETA-9089 itself, but it’s not free. The real costs are recruitment and attorney fees, and the law dictates who must pay them. Understanding the split matters because charging the employee for costs the employer must bear can invalidate the case.
Who must pay
By regulation, the employer must pay all costs of the PERM labor certification, including recruitment advertising and the attorney fees tied to the PERM process. The employee cannot reimburse these. This is a compliance issue, not a preference.
Recruitment costs
The main hard cost is advertising. Required newspaper ads, especially in major-market papers, can run from a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars depending on the publication and the role. Professional positions require additional recruitment steps that add cost.
Attorney fees
Legal fees for managing the PERM process vary by firm and complexity. Because these are employer-paid for the PERM stage, they should be quoted clearly and separately from later steps like the I-140.
Costs at later stages
Note that the I-140 petition and the green card application that follow PERM do have government fees, and the rules on who pays shift at those stages. PERM is just the first cost center of several. Government fee amounts change, so confirm current figures before budgeting.
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by this communication.
Attorney Cagatay Ersoy. Practical strategy for founders, investors, and growing companies.
