PERM Processing Times 2023 Guide

Are you considering filing for a PERM certification? If so, you will want to know the current processing times. However, particular areas may have delays, so planning and submitting your application as early as possible is important.

What is USCIS PERM Processing?

Program Electronic Review Management, also known as PERM processing, is a term used to define a permanent labor certification process required for some specific preference employment-based category. For example, when an employer or a company wants to hire a foreign national as a worker, the company or the employer must get certified approval from the Department of Labour’s Employment and Training Administration (DOL). This approval from DOL is known as the PERM Labor Certification. In addition, the employer or the company must file an immigration petition to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for the foreign national worker after getting approval from the DOL.

The most important step an employer must complete to meet the minimal standards for permanently hiring a foreign national is the Perm labor certification.

The PERM Process 2023

Let’s take a look back at how the process of PERM Labor Certification works. The PERM process has four major steps involved, which are:

Step 1: Creating jobs

The employer creates a job for the employee. The job description includes the required duties, responsibilities, job title, and work experience.

Step 2: Show evidence to pay the foreign national

The employer has to prove that they are financially able to pay the foreign worker according to the DOL prevailing wage requirements. To verify that a company has remained able to pay the foreign national employee’s wage, it must submit supporting documentation such as a federal income tax return, annual report, or audited financial statement.

Step 3: confirm jobs for the foreign national workers

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) rules state that sponsors must “test the American labor market.” Therefore, they must ensure that no suitable and willing United States citizens or permanent residents can perform the tasks for which only foreign nationals are being hired as part of the PERM process.

A qualified and eager U.S. applicant for the position requires the sponsoring business to halt the procedure and wait six months before retesting the labor market. Otherwise, the employer will be prepared to file PERM applications.

Step 4: Submit the filed application

All cases are examined by seasoned experts authorized to flag a questionable case for PERM audit. A DOL Certification Officer can also ask for further documentation to verify that all required procedures were followed. The process can take up to 209 days for a decision to arrive for the petitioner. Given the delays caused by COVID-19, it isn’t easy to give a precise timetable for the audit procedure.

PERM Processing Times 2023

Here is approximately how much time the PERM process can take:

Audit review: more than 209 days

PERM prevailing wage determination: 180 days (another 120 days to review any audits)

Perm certification can expire if not used within 6 months to file Form I-140.

An employer must advertise for 30-60 days during the recruitment period.

DOL PERM Processing Times 2023

A single factor can not define the PERM processing time. The PERM process takes days to get approval for every step to be determined carefully. Let’s look at each phase and the underlying days required for approval in detail to figure out a rough estimate of how many days there will be:

Prevailing wage determination

The processing time for prevailing wage determination can change depending on the number of requests made by people and in which region. The approval for determination of the prevailing wage by DOL can take up to 180 days approximately.

There have been times when the prevailing wage determination has taken over two months to arrive, while other times, it merely takes a few weeks.

There are cases where the duration was just a few weeks, and other times it took over two months for the DOL approval to arrive.

Currently, applications that were filed in October 2021 are still going through the review appeal process. Once the prevailing wage determination has been completed, DOL staff will review the appeals, which may take another 120 days to review the cases.

The recruitment period

In this important step of the PERM process, the perm recruitment practice requires the company or the employer to make advertisements for the job. For example, place job ads in the newspaper, promote them online, use the radio to reach out, or place the ads in colleges and universities.

The employer must run these job ads for at least 30-60 days to reach the people and give them enough time to revert. You need to also plan the process and time according to the interviews and follow-up interviews of the job applicants. This process is not much longer.

Application for Form-9089

After the recruitment process is completed, your employer can file the ETA-9089 PERM application.

After the recruitment, the employer must file the ETA-9089 PERM application. It can take up to several months for legal services to process the PERM approval after Form 9089 is filed. The PERM processing time is quick if your company does not have a DOL audit. But if DOL requests an audit, it can further delay the process of PERM. In this case, it can take up to six months to finally decide on your application.

So at present, it takes more than 209 days to conduct the audit review.

As a result, the typical processing time for each case is between six and twelve months, depending on its priority date.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has revised the processing periods for permanent labor certification (PERM) applications every month. For PERM tracking status, please visit https://www.plc.doleta.gov. 

PERM Labor Processing Time with an Audit

The PERM processing times with an audit can make significant changes in your timeline, as it can increase the delay. The audits are defined into two categories.

Random audits

The Department of Labor does audits on some cases as a measure to ensure that anyone does not take advantage of the system. However, since selection for these audits is very random, there is no anticipation for the applicant to be prepared for these audits.

Targeted audits

Targeted audits can be done on PERM applications if:

• The job requires having less than a bachelor’s degree.
• trade-related position at work
• If the worker is a relative of the employer
• The beneficiary is not qualified enough for the job post.
• Applications who went to specific predetermined public schools
• An advertisement for a position that needs someone without a bachelor’s degree and that the employer deems an existing layoff from the application.

After filing the PERM certification, you may receive the request for one of these audits within six months of your filing. After the application is audited, in about 2-3 weeks, you will receive a letter regarding the same, and you will have 30 days to revert.

It can take up to 9 months for the DOL to decide since the audit has been made. Therefore, you must prepare yourself accordingly, as the processing time can then increase to a year and a half.

However, keep in mind that audited requests aren’t automatically rejected. Even if the procedure is audited and takes a long time to resolve, you may still be accepted.

Supervised Recruitment PERM Processing Times

To ensure the process is fair, the DOL can request additional recruitment measures from the employer. The main reason these measures could be taken is that the employer can guarantee that their business uses adequate recruitment procedures to locate and hire qualified U.S. workers before offering employment opportunities to foreign nationals or immigrants.

An employer has 30 days to send the advertorial draft based on the Department of Labor’s regulations if they have been just notified bout their case being designated for supervised recruitment. In the meantime, a company advertisement may take a few weeks to several months to review and accept. They may also request additional information about the job during this time.

Expedite PERM Processing Time

Filing your PERM application carefully can help you process your application without any delays and without getting any audit notice.

Form I-140 is the only step that allows premium processing in the PERM green card application process. At every stage of the process, you will have a general timeline, each step taking several months.

The competition keeps on increasing for the applicants for PERM green card filing.

Suppose you don’t have a lawyer working on your PERM Labor Certification application. In that case, receiving a direct approval notice will be difficult since they focus mainly on H-1B and L-1 visa applications. Therefore, you must work with an immigration attorney with extensive experience in PERM Labor Certification to assist you in preparing your application for improved chances of receiving a direct approval notice.

Reasons why your PERM application can get denied

The average wait time for progress adjudications is 224 days, with a 40% rejection rate for unapproved situations.

The DOL aims to verify 30% of labor certification cases every year, which is why so many audits and supervising recruitments occur. The audited PERM cases are handled more slowly and scrutinized than others.

To accept your PERM applications, you must fulfill Department of Labor standards. Unfortunately, several dangers exist that may result in rejection quickly. Here are some reasons why your PERM application may get denied:

Incomplete and inefficient recruitment

• If you lack in following the advertising techniques by DOL
• lack of information on the advertisements
• A candidate’s resume or application is full of questions, and blunders may be interpreted as an incursion of the position’s accessibility.

Your company must keep detailed records of all recruiting and advertising efforts, be cautious throughout the market test stage, and be open and honest about employment opportunities.

Incorrect job description

When sponsoring a sponsored position, employers must accurately represent the responsibilities, educational qualifications, experience requirements, and skill prerequisites. This implies that employers cannot create unachievable job expectations to repel potential employees. This also implies that the employer is not permitted to “tailor” work activities and criteria to match the sponsored foreign national’s qualifications.

Incompetency of the Employer for Prevailing Wages

If the employer fails to present authentic financial documentation, the risks of the application getting denied get higher.

When an employer or a company hires a foreign national worker, they must pay the worker according to the prevailing wage rate for work. In the prevailing wage determination, the employer must prove that he is financially capable and can pay the employee diligently. The prevailing wage determination prevents foreign national workers from being exploited with lower salaries and helps to keep the labor market balanced.

What to do if the PERM application gets denied?

1. Request Dol to reconsider your application

You can request reconsideration if your application is denied.

You can submit the request for reconsideration within 30 days to the certifying officer who denied your case. The employer may include only original paperwork that was previously presented to the Certifying Officer, as well as documentation he had at the time of filing the PERM application but did not have a chance to do so. There is no need for additional documentation that might be irrelevant to the PERM application.

2. Request for appeal

You can file a request for an appeal even though BALCA appeals can be time-consuming before it concludes. Nevertheless, you should be prepared because the appeal might take a long time for an immigration attorney to suggest that you simply accept the PERM refusal and re-file the petition later.

Checking Your PERM Case Status

To check the progress on your PERM application, you can:

• Check PERM processing times on the official website of DOL. You can see when your application is being reviewed.
• Check the date you filed your return. You may check the status of your case on the DOL’s Permanent Case Management System after filing Form 9089.
• Call the National Processing Center’s help desk (NPC). The NPC will utilize your name and filing date to determine whether any additional information is needed for your application and will inform you of what else you must do.

Conclusion

PERM labor processing times can be long, but there are ways to ensure your application is processed as quickly as possible. Make sure you have a perfectly updated application and avoid any delays.

FAQs

About the author:

Debjit Saha is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of HomeAbroad. With a passion for technology and a deep understanding of US immigration laws, he strives to empower individuals in their journey to the United States. He is also a Certified Immigration Expert.

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