This guide is for the attorney, paralegal or HR lead planning a PERM recruitment for a professional occupation. A professional case needs two mandatory steps, a job order and two print ads, plus three more chosen from a list of ten, each with its own documentation and a timing rule that differs between the two groups.
The one rule most schedules get wrong
For the three additional steps: "Only one of the additional steps may consist solely of activity that took place within 30 days of the filing of the application. None of the steps may have taken place more than 180 days prior to filing the application." (20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e)(1)(ii) (2025))
The two mandatory steps
A professional occupation is one "for which the attainment of a bachelor's or higher degree is a usual education requirement" (20 C.F.R. § 656.3). For it, § 656.17(e)(1)(i) makes a job order and two print ads mandatory, conducted "at least 30 days, but no more than 180 days, before the filing of the application."
| Step | What the rule requires | How it's documented | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWA job order | Placed with the State Workforce Agency serving the area of intended employment, for 30 days | The start and end dates entered on the application | § 656.17(e)(1)(i)(A) |
| Two Sunday ads | On two different Sundays, in the newspaper of general circulation in the area most appropriate to the occupation and the workers likely to apply | Copies of the newspaper pages, or proof of publication from the newspaper | § 656.17(e)(1)(i)(B)(1), (3) |
| No Sunday edition | In a rural area with no Sunday paper, the edition with the widest circulation | The same | § 656.17(e)(1)(i)(B)(2) |
| Journal in place of one Sunday ad | Allowed when the job requires experience and an advanced degree and a professional journal would normally be used | A copy of the journal page | § 656.17(e)(1)(i)(B)(4) |
Section H.c of the ETA-9089 asks for the job order's start and end dates, whether the area has a Sunday paper, and each ad's publication and date. Those entries are the record DOL reads first.
What every ad has to say
Under § 656.17(f), an ad in a newspaper or professional journal must:
- Name the employer.
- Tell applicants to report or send resumes to the employer.
- Describe the vacancy specifically enough to tell U.S. workers what the job is.
- Give the geographic area with enough detail to show any travel and where the worker will likely have to live.
- Not list a wage below the prevailing wage.
- Not list requirements or duties beyond those on the ETA-9089.
- Not offer wages or terms less favorable than those offered to the foreign worker.
Check item 6 line by line against the form before the ad runs, because a published ad can't be edited afterward.
The ten additional steps, and how each is proved
Pick three. Section H.d of the ETA-9089 records a start and end date for each one used.
| Step | Documentation the rule names | § 656.17(e)(1)(ii) |
|---|---|---|
| Job fair | Brochures advertising the fair, and newspaper ads naming the employer as a participant | (A) |
| Employer's website | Dated copies of the site's pages advertising the occupation | (B) |
| Job search website | Dated copies of the pages. Pages generated alongside the Sunday ads can serve | (C) |
| On-campus recruiting | The placement office's notice naming the employer and the interview date | (D) |
| Trade or professional organization | Copies of newsletter or journal pages carrying the ad | (E) |
| Private employment firm | Proof the firm recruited for the occupation, such as the contract and its ads | (F) |
| Employee referral program with incentives | Dated notices or memos advertising the program and its incentives | (G) |
| Campus placement office | A copy of the notice given to the office | (H) |
| Local or ethnic newspaper | A copy of the page carrying the ad | (I) |
| Radio or television | The ad's text and the station's written confirmation of when it aired | (J) |
The timing, worked on dates
| Group | Earliest | Latest | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory steps | No more than 180 days before filing | At least 30 days before filing | § 656.17(e)(1)(i) |
| Additional steps | No more than 180 days before filing | One of the three may fall entirely inside the 30 days before filing | § 656.17(e)(1)(ii) |
The 180 days count back from filing to the first of these steps: the job order, a Sunday ad or an additional step. The notice of filing isn't one of them. Its own rule, in § 656.10(d)(3)(iv), is that it must "Be provided between 30 and 180 days before filing the application."
Say the employer plans to file on Friday, May 15, 2026. The 30-day line falls on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, and the 180-day line on Sunday, November 16, 2025.
Job order: Monday, March 2 to Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Inside both limits. Counting 30 days from the job order's end date, the earliest filing date is Friday, May 1, 2026, so May 15 works.
Sunday ads: March 8 and March 15, 2026
Two different Sundays, both well over 30 days before filing.
Additional step 1: employer's website, March 2 to May 15
It runs into the last 30 days, but it doesn't consist solely of activity inside them, so it doesn't use up the one exception.
Additional step 2: job search website, March 9 to April 8
Over before the 30-day line.
Additional step 3: referral program memo dated Monday, April 20
Entirely inside the last 30 days. That's the one step the rule allows there. A job fair on Friday, May 1 would be a second, and it couldn't count as one of the three.
This example counts 30 days from the day the last mandatory step ended. The regulation says the steps must be "conducted" at least 30 days before filing, and the attorney on the case decides how to measure it.
A nonprofessional job is simpler
For a nonprofessional occupation, § 656.17(e)(2) requires at a minimum the job order and two Sunday newspaper ads, on the same 30 and 180 day rule. The ten additional steps don't apply.
What isn't settled yet
DOL's Fall 2025 regulatory agenda lists a planned PERM proposal (RIN 1205-AC29) to change "the minimum standards for recruiting qualified U.S. workers." The Federal Register held no document under that RIN as of October 16, 2026, so none of it has been proposed. The policy changes page lists Federal Register documents as they appear.
What this guide can't decide
- Which newspaper is "most appropriate to the occupation" for your job. That's a judgment about the area and the field, made by the attorney on the case. Nothing here is legal advice.
- Whether a web posting that ran for one day counts the same as one that ran for a month. The rule asks for dated pages; how long they ran is the case's own question.
Related
- How long PERM recruitment stays valid, for the 30 and 180 day window worked on more dates
- PERM recruitment requirements checklist, every step on one printable list
- The PERM deadlines that actually matter, for the dates on either side of recruitment
- The PERM deadline calculator, which works out the latest start for the job order, the first Sunday ad and the notice
- Where PERM employers recruit, the steps, newspapers and timing in every decided case filed on the current form
The free case app at PERM Tracker for attorneys puts "start job order by", "first Sunday ad by" and "second Sunday ad by" dates on each case's deadline list, with reminders.
