This guide is for the university HR office, the international office or the attorney filing a PERM for a college or university teacher. Special handling lets the employer rely on the competitive search it already ran, without the standard PERM recruitment, but it comes with its own record to keep and a filing limit of 18 months from the selection.
The limit, 20 C.F.R. § 656.18(c)
"Applications for permanent alien labor certification for job opportunities as college and university teachers must be filed within 18 months after a selection is made pursuant to a competitive recruitment and selection process."
Two routes for a teaching position
An employer filing for a college or university teacher files under § 656.10 and then "under either § 656.17 or § 656.18" (20 C.F.R. § 656.10(a)(2) (2025)). The two routes differ in recruitment, in the standard and in timing.
| Basic process | Special handling | |
|---|---|---|
| Rule | 20 C.F.R. § 656.17 | 20 C.F.R. § 656.18 |
| Recruitment | A job order, two print ads and three additional steps, inside the 30 and 180 day window before filing | The employer's own competitive recruitment and selection, with at least one ad in a national professional journal |
| The standard | No U.S. applicant was able, willing, qualified and available. For a teacher, the U.S. worker must be "at least as qualified as the alien" (§ 656.24(b)(2)(ii)) | The worker was found "more qualified than any of the United States workers who applied for the job" (§ 656.18(b)) |
| Timing | Filing at least 30 days after the last mandatory step and within 180 days of the first (§ 656.17(e)) | Filing within 18 months after the selection (§ 656.18(c)) |
| Notice of filing | Required (§ 656.10(d)) | Required, with the journal ad's information (§ 656.10(d)(5)) |
| On the ETA-9089 | Section H, box 1a, then H.c and H.d | Section H, box 1c, skip H.c and H.d, and complete Appendix D |
Section 656.17(e) itself carves these cases out: its required pre-filing recruitment applies "except for labor certification applications involving college or university teachers selected pursuant to a competitive recruitment and selection process (§ 656.18)."
What the record must show
Under § 656.18(b), documentation of the competitive recruitment and selection process must include:
A signed statement of the whole recruitment
Signed by an official with actual hiring authority, "outlining in detail the complete recruitment procedures undertaken," with the total number of applicants and "the specific lawful job-related reasons why the alien is more qualified than each U.S. worker who applied" (§ 656.18(b)(1)).
The selecting body's final report
"A final report of the faculty, student, and/or administrative body making the recommendation or selection of the alien" (§ 656.18(b)(2)).
The national journal ad
A copy of at least one ad "placed in a national professional journal," with the journal's name and the publication dates, stating the job title, duties and requirements (§ 656.18(b)(3)).
Every other source used
"Evidence of all other recruitment sources utilized" (§ 656.18(b)(4)).
The worker's qualifications
"A written statement attesting to the degree of the alien's educational or professional qualifications and academic achievements" (§ 656.18(b)(5)).
The notice of filing still goes up. For a special handling case it carries the information § 656.18(b)(3) requires of the journal ad, plus the statements every notice makes (§ 656.10(d)(5) and (d)(3)). The recruitment checklist covers the posting itself.
How the ETA-9089 records it
Appendix D, "Special Recruitment for College and University Teachers," asks for the date the worker was selected, the name of each national professional journal or other publication used with the ad's start date, and a description of all other recruitment (up to 3,500 characters). DOL's instructions say the appendix is required when box 1c of question H.b is selected.
The 18 months, on a calendar
Say the selection was made on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. Eighteen calendar months later is Friday, October 15, 2027. The regulation doesn't say how a month is counted or what counts as the selection date, so two practical rules follow:
- Record the selection date the way Appendix D asks for it, with the document that fixes it (an offer letter, a committee vote) in the file.
- Plan to file well before the 18-month date. The notice of filing must "Be provided between 30 and 180 days before filing the application" (§ 656.10(d)(3)(iv)), so the posting has to start more than a month ahead of the last possible day.
Missing the 18 months doesn't end the case's options: § 656.18(d) lets an employer that can't use special handling file under the basic process at § 656.17 instead, with its full recruitment.
What PERM Tracker doesn't do yet
PERM Tracker's case app doesn't model special handling. It works out the standard § 656.17 recruitment and filing dates only. The 18-month limit from a selection date isn't in it, so a special handling case's deadline has to be kept outside the app for now. The glossary defines the term.
What this guide can't settle
- Whether a particular position counts as a college or university teacher job. That's a question for the attorney on the case, working from DOL's guidance. Nothing here is legal advice.
- Whether an electronic journal satisfies the national professional journal requirement for your field. The regulation says "national professional journal" and the attorney decides how it applies.
Related
- The PERM notice of filing, for the notice special handling still requires
- The PERM to green card document checklist, for keeping the selection record for five years
- ETA 9089 expiration and the I-140 deadline, the clock that starts once DOL certifies
For a faculty case filed under the basic process, the free case app at PERM Tracker for attorneys works out the recruitment and filing dates with reminders.
