Have some questions about PERM filing, advice needed plz!

[j0emV]

Ok so over the past few weeks i've been trying to find ways to make this thing work. Here's a little background info on my story:

Right now i'm 25 years old. My father adjusted to permenant resident status August 2005 through an I-140 that his employer filed for him. They applied for his LC on April 30, 2001 so not only am I covered by 245(i) benefits, which I dont need right now but its good to know its there, but I am also covered by the CSPA. Because I waited too long to take action, his priority date became current in February 2003, I lost out on the ability to adjust under his filing BUT I do get to retain his original priority date of April 30, 2001.

I have no other way to get this thing done besides having my employer file an I-140 for me under the EB3 category which I figure should happen quickly since my priority date in that category is current, and i'm from the Bahamas. I have a Bachelors in Management Information Systems from a US university as well as 3 years or more experience on my job depending. What we'll probably end up doing after getting PERM certified is filing premium processing for the I-140 concurrently with the I-485/I-765/I-131.

So i'm just worried about the PERM application, because my job description is L1/L2 helpdesk support, i'm wondering about the recruitment process. Of course I got the job because no other US workers were capable of doing the job BUT i've been on the job for a year now. I tested higher than everybody else I believe. So I assume we have to do the recruitment process all over again but does anybody have any advice about doing this ourselves vs me hiring a lawyer and having them coordinate all this? Does anyone know how much hiring a lawyer to do the PERM stuff should cost roughly? Particularly in the Chicago area? I work at a non profit and so naturally the pay is lower for the responsibilities I have and so we'd have to locate a job title that pays around what I make which i'm sure wouldnt be exactly everything I do on the job. My boss has already talked about me being promoted soon to Network Administrator or something like that which would also include a pay increase but who knows when that will happen. I'm just worried about the PERM recruitment process. Does anyone have any advice or experiences having their employers doing it or having a lawyer do it?

Thanks!

 

[kortan]

Make sure you put some rare technical key words in your job requirements, if you can, so you may be able to eliminate the resumes by using the fact that those exact words were missing. I have a friend who did that.

 

[j0emV]

thanks for the tip!

So i've decided to work with my HR person and just do the perm ourselves. I met with an attorney and its $3500 just for the perm or $5500 for the total perm/140/485 package. I cant afford that right now and i've been reading up on it, it doesnt seem like rocket science based on the opinions of some around here. I purchased that do it yourself perm kit from usavisanow and I figure with her HR experience and the instructions, we should be fine submiting this ourselves. We're going to submit the job order to the SWA on Monday as well as fax over the prevailing wage request. I've already found the appropriate job title that matches my pay level and luckily i'm being paid more than the prevailing wage.

We'll also begin the recruitment probably next Sunday. We have some proprietary applications applicable only to nonprofits that we're gonna place in the ad and hopefully weed out candidates. Also i'm thinking we're just going to use the mailing address instead of including the email cuz that would make it too easy to receive a deluge of responses.

If we can get the perm certified we'll submit the 140 for premium processing and try to get that approved quickly, once approved i'll submit the 485 with the supporting documents trying to utilize my fathers EB3 priority date I retained through the CSPA. I just have to write up a compelling argument and hope it goes my way. Does anyone have any ideas on this?