Immigration attorneys are cautiously optimistic about a change in the way US employers apply to sponsor foreign-born workers for permanent residency — a change scheduled to take effect from Monday on the Internet.Under the Program Electronic Review Management system, or Perm, employers will for the first time be able to apply for foreign labour certification online rather than through postal mail. And applications will no longer first go to a state agency and then be passed on to a regional office of the US Labor Department, a process that, in California, would typically take two years.With the new system, the Labor Department’s role is expected to be compressed to between six to eight weeks. ‘‘Nobody does change well, and when change involves technology, as this does, it can be a little nerve-racking. But we’re hoping that the change would be for the better,’’ said Crystal Williams, deputy director for programmes at the Washington-based American Immigration Lawyers Association.Labor Department officials said the new system was designed to streamline and nationalise the foreign labour certification process, while continuing to ensure that the domestic job pool was properly exploited before US employers turned to foreign candidates. Under the law, a business can hire foreign workers, whether they be cooks or scientists, if it can demonstrate to the Labor Department that there are no Americans who are both qualified and available. An employer must also guarantee to pay a salary that meets prevailing US standards.Those requirements haven’t changed. But with Perm, employers won’t have to submit supporting documents to the government unless asked to do so. Only the actual application form will be emailed to the Labor Department. Officials liken the new system to filing taxes electronically; a taxpayer only needs to bring in extensive records when called for an audit.‘‘Technology allows us to strengthen our overall program’s integrity and provide better customer service,’’ said Emily Stover DeRocco, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training. The application process will continue to remain free of charge to the employer. Government officials estimated that a large percentage of the applications submitted through Perm would be on behalf of professionals already working for US companies on visas.The Labor Department has posted information on the topic on its website: Labor Department officials said security measures had been put in place to help identify potential fraud. Companies will be randomly audited and face investigation and prosecution if found to be willfully cheating the system, the officials said.‘‘Our procedures are intended to weed out applications that are not legitimate,’’ DeRocco said. Los Angeles immigration lawyer Josie Gonzalez said attorneys were hopeful but waiting to be convinced. ‘‘The goals of the programme are laudatory, but we’ve really got to wait and see how’s it’s implemented,’’ Gonzalez said. Streamlining immigration• New system changes the way US employers apply to sponsor foreign workers for residency• Employers can now apply for certification online rather than through postal mail• Applications will no longer go to a state agency thereby reducing Labor Dept’s work— LAT-WP
