&gt;It is not legal for the employee to bear the costs of the green card.<p>Can you help clarify this? The three stages I&#x27;m aware of to obtain permanent residence in the United States are:<p>1) PERM (Department of Labour certification)<p>2) I-140<p>3) I-485<p>The PERM is (always?) undertaken and paid for by the employer. The I-140 is also sponsored by the employer, so should be paid by the employer. But the I-485 (the actual green card application) does not have to be paid by the employer. If you submit I-485 forms for your family members, those also do not need to be paid by the employer.<p>This is separate from attorney fees (if any) to obtain the I-485 for you or your family.<p>Disclaimer: IANAL, but I basically went through this process (minus the PERM).