PERM, prevailing wage processing updates

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

PERM Processing: Applications filed in December 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 December and earlier are being reviewed for reconsideration.

Average PERM processing times in March:

• Adjudication – 106 days.
• Audit review – 217 days.

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

• H-1B – 125 days (OES), 129 days (non-OES).
• PERM – 125 days (OES), 127 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’s published processing times. BAL is seeing approvals for PERM applications filed in December and earlier and is seeing PWDs for requests filed in December and earlier as well.

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

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