PERM, prevailing wage determination processing updates

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

PERM processing: Applications filed in January and earlier are now being adjudicated, according to the department. Audit reviews are being conducted on applications filed in September and earlier, and appeals filed in April and earlier are being reviewed for reconsideration.

Average PERM processing times in May:

• Adjudication – 139 days.
• Audit review – 249 days.

PWD Processing: The National Prevailing Wage Center is currently processing requests filed in March and earlier for H-1B and PERM cases. Redeterminations are being considered on appeals filed in April and earlier for H-1B and PERM cases. Center director reviews are being conducted on appeals filed in April 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 May:

• H-1B – 73 days (OES), 80 days (non-OES).
• PERM – 72 days (OES), 78 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 mostly consistent with the Labor Department processing times. BAL is currently seeing approvals for PERM applications filed in January and February and is awaiting PWDs for requests filed in March 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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