Employment classification
EB-2 Advanced Degree with PERM Labor Certification
With a certified labor certification in hand, the I-140 evidentiary burden narrows to two questions: does the beneficiary meet the minimum requirements stated on the ETA-9089 exactly as written, and can the employer demonstrate continuing ability to pay the proffered wage from the priority date. Most RFEs here are arithmetic — an experience letter that is a month short, or an ability-to-pay analysis that omits a year.
Governing standard
Certified ETA-9089 plus advanced degree or exceptional ability
8 CFR 204.5(k); 20 CFR 656
- Denial rate after RFE
- 9.7%
- Median processing
- 158 days
- Form
- I-140
- Initial RFE rate
- 11.3%
- Median exhibit pages
- 95
- Manual assembly
- 7 hrs
- On Docket Build
- 20 min
Statutory criteria
What the record has to establish.
Each element below is a mapped criterion in the Docket Build criteria pack, with its citation and the evidence types that satisfy it.
Beneficiary meets ETA-9089 minimum requirements
204.5(k)(2)
- Degree and transcripts
- Experience letters matching the stated months
Employer ability to pay
204.5(g)(2)
- Tax returns
- Audited financials
- Payroll evidence
Job opportunity as certified
20 CFR 656.17
- Certified ETA-9089
- Recruitment file where requested
Failure modes
What actually draws a request on a EB-2 PERM.
Compiled from the request language our customers record on their own matters and from published AAO decisions in this classification.
Full RFE trends hub- Experience letters totalling less than the months required on the 9089
- Experience gained with the petitioning employer without a lawful basis
- Ability-to-pay evidence missing a year between priority date and filing
- Degree field on the diploma differing from the field stated on the 9089
Document checklist
What a complete filing carries.
Full printable checklist →Labor certification
Certified ETA-9089
Signed by employer, beneficiary and attorney
Prevailing wage determination
Matching the SOC and wage level on the 9089
Recruitment filewhere applicable
Retained for audit; produced only if requested
Beneficiary qualification
Degree certificate and transcripts
Matching the education stated on the 9089
Experience letters
Totalling at least the months required, before the priority date
Credential evaluationwhere applicable
For foreign degrees
Ability to pay
Employer tax returns
Every year from priority date to filing
Audited financial statementswhere applicable
Where net income or net current assets are marginal
Beneficiary payroll evidencewhere applicable
If already employed at or above the proffered wage
Forms
Form I-140 and G-28
Priority date and SOC cross-checked against the 9089
Also employment
Related classifications.
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