PERM, prevailing wage processing updates

The Labor Department has posted processing times current as of Sept. 30 for permanent labor certification (PERM) applications and processing times as of Aug. 31 for prevailing wage determination (PWD) requests.

PERM Processing: Applications filed in July and earlier are now being adjudicated, according to the department. Audit reviews are being conducted on applications filed in February and earlier, and appeals filed in May and earlier are being reviewed for reconsideration.

Average PERM processing times as of July:

• Adjudication – 78 days.
• Audit review – 211 days.

PWD Processing: The Labor Department has not yet posted PWD processing times for September. As of Aug. 31, however, the National Prevailing Center was processing PWD requests filed in May and earlier for H-1B and PERM cases. Redeterminations were being considered on appeals filed in August and earlier for H-1B cases and July and earlier for PERM cases. Center director reviews were being conducted on appeals filed in June and earlier for PERM cases. The department reported that it had no center director reviews pending for H-1B cases.

Average times for issuance of prevailing wage determinations in August:

• H-1B – 110 days (OES), 118 days (non-OES).
• PERM – 111 days (OES), 117 days (non-OES).

The Labor Department reports PERM and PWD processing time frames on its iCERT page.

BAL Analysis: BAL’s internal case tracking is consistent with the Labor Department’s published processing times. BAL is seeing approvals for PERM applications filed in July and earlier and is seeing PWDs for requests filed in May and earlier.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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