J1 to EB-2 Green Card // Work Experience

[mrabdussalam]

I am currently on a J-1 Trainee visa (which requires 5 years of professional experience). My employer is willing to file for my EB-2 through PERM. Here are some confusions:

 

I have a 4 year Bachelors degree and a post graduation experience of 4.5 years (full time) from my home country. While on my full time job, I was working part time (20 hours) with another employer for more than a year. Can I use this part time experience alongside the full time experience to make up for the 5 years requirement (counted as half year)? All of my experience has been progressive, backed by pay stubs.

 

Can J-1 Trainee experience from current employer be counted towards the 5 years requirement? I have heard conflicting reports on these. US Citizenship website states "Documentation, such as an official academic record showing that you have a U.S. advanced degree or a foreign equivalent degree, or an official academic record showing that you have a U.S. baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent degree and letters from current or former employers showing that you have at least 5 years of progressive post-baccalaureate work experience in the specialty."

 

Please guide.

Thank you for your time.