How much teaching is enough? Permanent alien labor certification or PERM is the preferred route to permanent residency for many alien workers. PERM has rigorous recruiting requirements to protect U.S. workers, but eases up on college or university teachers. If the PERM is for a position that qualifies as a “college or university teacher,” the recruitment that is conducted internally by the search committee, after an ad in a national professional publication that results in the hiring of the alien as the best candidate, is usually enough. (20 C.F.R. § 656.18).
Until recently, there has been no definition of the nature or extent of “teaching” that is required. In the recent case Matter of Mercer University, (BALCA Case No. 2011-PER-00162), the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals addressed this. The beneficiary of the labor certification had the title of “Instructional Coordinator” and the Certifying Officer denied because: “the principal duties described are not those involved in teaching, evaluating and advising students within an assigned instructor workload in a classroom setting.” (See attached: Matter of Mercer University, (BALCA Case No. 2011-PER-00162).PDF).
BALCA found this definition too restrictive and reversed. The University’s position of Assistant Professor had duties that entailed effective teaching and required experience leading instructional activities. A “teacher” is more than one who teaches in the classroom. The decision allows colleges and universities to take advantage of this special handling for those whose duties include teaching, but are not predominately teaching. This reflects the reality of a University professor’s world and may include clinical instructors in academic medical centers.