PERM, prevailing wage determination processing updates

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

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

Average PERM processing times in January:

• Adjudication – 152 days.
• Audit review – 251 days.

PWD processing: The National Prevailing Wage Center is currently processing requests filed in November and earlier for both H-1B and PERM cases. Redeterminations are being considered on appeals filed in December and earlier for H-1B and PERM cases. Center director reviews are being conducted on appeals filed in December for PERM cases. The department reported that it had no center director reviews pending for H-1B cases as of Jan. 31.

Average times for issuance of prevailing wage determinations in January:

• H-1B – 74 days (OES), 77 days (non-OES).
• PERM – 73 days (OES), 81 days (non-OES).

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

BAL Analysis: BAL’s internal case tracking is mostly consistent with the Labor Department processing times. BAL is seeing approvals for PERM applications filed in early September and is awaiting PWDs for requests filed in November 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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