Category: News

New SWA Platforms: Kentucky, Minnesota, and New Jersey

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Tais Araujo and Bruno Nascimento Quick Highlights: Kentucky, Minnesota, and New Jersey have all moved to a new shared SWA platform powered by the National Labor Exchange (NLx). Minnesota's old system will stop accepting postings on June 5, 2026. Existing postings do not transfer automatically, and new postings now go through a 1 to 2 business day review before going live. Each account is tied to a single contact, and third-party agent access is required to manage multiple employers. Multi-factor authentication is now required in Minnesota and available in Kentucky and New Jersey.   Part of Park Advertising's job is to track State Workforce Agency (SWA) changes, so you are never caught off guard. Right now, there is a development worth ...

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Park: The Perfect Partner for Business Consulting NIWs  

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By Shela Ward  The National Interest Waiver (NIW) can serve as a powerful tool for professionals looking to secure residency via their own consulting business. For these cases, the candidate’s specialized expertise is delivered directly through their business to solve meaningful problems in the US. When paired with a well-structured business plan and an expert letter, an NIW can translate a simple vision into credibility.  Park can help develop strategies for NIWs around a foreign national’s existing business plan. Our expert opinion letters can cultivate a full story that shows how these professionals generate ongoing and far-reaching benefits in the US through their very own consulting business.   In a recent case, Park received a candidate’s business plan to establish a ...

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New York State Launches a New Platform for SWA Job Orders

Posted by: Park Evaluations

As Park Advertising closely monitors State Workforce Agency (SWA) updates, we want to keep our clients and partners informed about changes that may impact recruitment and compliance processes. One of the most important requirements companies face when hiring foreign employees is posting job openings with the appropriate SWA portal in the state where the job will be performed. These postings ensure that local job seekers have fair access to available opportunities and help employers meet Department of Labor (DOL) recruitment guidelines. While the DOL requires job orders to remain live for 30 consecutive days, each state has its own set of rules and requirements that must be followed. Some require salary ranges, others request benefit details, and some others may include occupation-specific ...

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution Going Digital

Posted by: Park Evaluations

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the latest major daily newspaper to transition to digital only, with its final print edition scheduled for December 31, 2025. This raises concerns for PERM recruitment in the Atlanta metro area, since current regulations do not allow digital editions to satisfy the requirement for two separate Sunday ads in a newspaper of general circulation. So, what happens now? When a paper announces it is going digital, the Park team immediately begins researching alternative options for every affected area. We contact all available newspapers in each market and confirm their circulation and print schedules to ensure we have accurate options for clients. For example, in Cobb County, Georgia, where the AJC was previously used, we will begin ...

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Major Updates from USCIS on TN Visas: Here’s What You Need to Know

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Shela Ward USCIS has just released a major update to its Policy Manual for the temporary nonimmigrant (TN) visa. What does this mean for your clients? These changes impact how employers can determine who’s eligible and what the application process looks like moving forward. At Park Evaluations, we stay on top of immigration policy updates like this, so we can help draft TN letters tailored to the new guidelines to make sure you and your clients stay ahead of the curve. What’s Changed for TN Visas? USCIS’ updates to the Policy Manual are significant – and they touch on everything from employment requirements to the application process. Regarding employment requirements and eligibility, candidates still need to be Canadian or Mexican citizens with a ...

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Green Card Gridlock: What Employers and Immigrants Need to Know

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Hannah Welbourn Concerning the growing delays for green card processing, the Cato Institute stated, “America will lose the global talent competition when other countries grant green cards in a matter of a few weeks or months, not years.” 1,256 days (or 3.44 years) was the average processing time in Q2 of 2025. Since 2016, the U.S. government has added an average of 2.8 years to green card processing, and paying the $2,805 premium fee only drops the average wait time to 2.8 years. These delays affect hundreds of thousands of households in the U.S. This is on top of the extensive backlog of green card cap slots, where if a candidate’s application is approved, they may have to wait for a ...

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Recruitment Requirements for PERM: Professional vs. Non-Professional

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Samantha Collins The Department of Labor and the PERM process have distinct recruitment requirements for professional and non-professional job positions, primarily based on educational criteria. Professional Jobs:These roles require at least a Bachelor's degree and involve a more comprehensive recruitment process compared to non-professional positions. Required Advertising: Newspaper Ads:Place ads on two different Sundays in a widely circulated newspaper within the area of intended employment. The publication should be suitable for reaching qualified U.S. workers for the specific occupation. For rural areas without a Sunday edition, use the newspaper with the widest circulation in that region.

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Understanding “Research Only” Ph.D. Programs: A Closer Look

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Howard Borenstein I would like to devote this blog post to discussing the “research only” Ph.D. programs. The impetus for this is that over the past month, we have received two RFE’s specifically on Greek Ph.D. programs claiming that a Ph.D. from Greece was not equivalent to a Ph.D. in the US. This is despite the fact that Greece only offers research-based and not classroom-based Ph.D. programs. AACRAO EDGE is clear that the Ph.D. degree from Greece is indeed equivalent to an earned doctorate in the United States. The nature of the challenges I have seen, in my opinion, reveals USCIS’ specific understanding of higher education. Namely, that a bachelor’s ...

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Credential Evaluation Update: Equivalency Changes to Indian MCA Degrees

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Howard Borenstein In a 2020 development, India’s University Grants Commission approved a change in duration for the Indian Master of Computer Applications (MCA) degree— the MCA was shortened to a two-year program. This update is significant as students have now completed and are graduating from this new program. Formerly spanning three years of study, the program has transitioned to a two-year structure, starting with the class of 2020-21. The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) stated the decision was prompted by a decrease in enrollment of students coming from backgrounds not related to Computer Science, such as Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry. When the program was first introduced in ...

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Park Translations Providing Support for Pro Bono Afghan Asylum Petitions

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in , ,

By: Annika Minton When the United States military withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in August of 2021, thousands of Afghan civilians were left seeking asylum in the U.S. Around 5,000 Afghan asylum-seekers arrived in the states in September of 2021, hoping for a smooth, quick approval process—unfortunately, the wait time for a response on an asylum-seeker’s claim is between two to six years. Some law firms took this opportunity to help these Afghans in need and are continuing their pro bono work to help them fill out their EAD (employee authorization documents) extensions and TPS (Temporary Protected Status) applications, which would allow them to continue to work in the United States while waiting for their ...

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