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In the past, when the labor certifications were taking years to process, a special immigrant visa petition was the only way to avoid the delays. However, now that the labor certifications are taking months instead of years, there is no great time advantage. Some special immigrant visa petitions, such as the national interest waiver (EB-2) and the extraordinary ability petitions (EB-1) do not require sponsorship by an employer. In other words, the alien can self-petition or sponsor himself. The PERM labor certification requires sponsorship by an employer, and the alien should not have a significant ownership interest or influence or control over the employer. Since there is no recruitment with the special immigrant visa petitions, there is no competition for the position and no added expense to the case. There is no prevailing wage requirement with the special immigrant visa petitions, although the higher the salary the stronger the case in showing the recognized skill of the alien.

It varies from one day to up to six months. The average processing time may be two to three months. If the case is audited, then this will definitely extend the processing time.

The employer files the Form I-140 immigrant visa petition along with evidence of its ability to pay the offered wage as of the date of filing the labor certification and continuing up until the filing of the Form I-140. Also, the employee must submit documentation establishing he or she met the minimum requirements for the position at the time the labor certification was filed (with certain exceptions), such as educational diplomas, transcripts and equivalency evaluations, employment experience letters, training certificates and licenses.

The spouse and unmarried children under 21-years-old may apply for legal permanent residency either along with the primary alien or later through the follow-to-join option. If following to join the primary alien, the derivative family member must have been acquired before the primary alien obtained legal permanent residency.

A spouse acquired after the primary applicant obtains legal permanent residency can be sponsored by the primary applicant. However, a visa number will not be immediately available, unlike the following-to-join scenario, in which the derivative applicant retains the same priority date as the primary applicant spouse.