The labor certification is prepared by ESU and an immigration attorney, and provided to the Department of Labor (DOL) to show that recruitment was conducted, and no qualified U.S. worker was identified who was available and willing to accept the position on the same terms and conditions as offered to the foreign national employee. ESU is required to pay all of the legal fees and recruitment costs associated with this process.

There are three options for the Labor Certification: Outstanding Professor, Faculty, or Non-faculty.

Outstanding Professor

Faculty meeting the criteria for Outstanding Professor or Researcher do not require a labor certification.  To qualify, the employee must provide evidence that they have at least three years of teaching experience, and meet at least two of the following criteria:

• Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field
• Memberships in associations in the academic field that require the demonstration of outstanding achievement as a criteria of membership
• Evidence of material in professional publications written by others about the employee’s work in the academic field
• Participation, either on a panel or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the academic field
• Original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field
• Authorship of scholarly books or articles in scholarly journals with international circulation in the academic field

Faculty who may meet the qualifications for Outstanding Professor should discuss this option with their immigration attorney.

Faculty

For faculty members with classroom teaching duties who are listed as the instructor of record, ESU must only show that the foreign national employee is better qualified than any of the U.S. applicants. These faculty members are also eligible for special handling, which simplifies the recruitment process, and enables the employer to hire the most qualified applicant, thereby ensuring a high level of academic quality.

Required Recruitment for Special Handling:

1. An ad must be placed in print or electronically with a national professional journal. Job websites that do not publish a professional journal do not count, but association websites may be acceptable if they publish a separate professional journal.
   • Preferences should not be advertised. Anything listed as a preference will be deemed a minimum requirement.
   • Electronic listings must be viewable to the public without a subscription or membership charge.
   • Electronic listings must be posted for at least 30 days (proof of posting length and content will be required).

1. The labor certification must be filed within 18 months of the offer. If the labor certification is started after this period, new recruitment must occur.
   • If new recruitment is conducted, the search must be bona fide. The qualifications of the foreign national employee need to be reviewed against the qualifications of any applicants, and the search committee needs to determine that the foreign national is better qualified than any U.S. workers in order to file the labor certification. Experience gained while working at the university is not used to create an artificial minimum qualification barrier for otherwise qualified candidates.

Departments can use the Special Handling LC Checklist to ensure all of the necessary steps are followed.

Non-faculty:

For employees who are not in faculty positions, ESU must show that recruitment was conducted, and no qualified U.S. worker was identified who was available and willing to accept the position on the same terms and conditions as offered to the foreign national employee. The recruitment must meet certain requirements outlined by the DOL.

Required Recruitment for Labor Certification:

• 30 day posting with the state workforce center (KansasWorks).
• Two print advertisements
  • A Sunday ad in two separate newspapers or one Sunday ad and one professional journal. Must provide original ads including the title of the paper/journal, page number, and date.
• Three additional recruitment sources. Must provide proof of location, date, and content. In-person recruiting (i.e. job fair, on-campus recruiting) requires proof of participation.
  • Job fair
  • ESU website
  • Job search website
  • Employee referral program
  • Local or ethnic paper
  • On-campus recruiting
  • Trade/Professional organization
  • Private employment firm
  • Campus placement office
  • TV/Radio ads
• The university requires the foreign national employee to apply for the position. If qualified applicants apply for the position, the department will be unable to file the labor condition, and may choose to hire an applicant from the search.
  • If this results in employment ending before the end of the employee’s visa, the department will be required to pay the reasonable cost of transportation for the foreign national to his or her last place of foreign residence

Departments can use the Standard LC Checklist to ensure all of the necessary steps are followed.