Unlike U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the DOL does not publish official statistics or processing times for pending PERM labor certification applications on their official website, but has previously announced that processing times for PERM labor certification approvals has slowed significantly over the past several months.

Highlights from the DOL release:

• As of September 30, 2008, DOL was processing PERM labor certification applications for which no audit is being required that were filed in March 2008 and earlier. For cases that do require an audit, those cases filed July 2007 and earlier are now being processed.
• For PERM applications that were denied by the DOL and subsequently appealed, the DOL is processing cases filed in December 2006 and earlier, except for cases where clear government error can be demonstrated as the reason for the denial. Appeals based on clear government error are current and the DOL reports no backlog in adjudicating those appeals.
• In fiscal year 2008, the DOL received 90,039 PERM applications. Of those, the DOL certified 49,205 applications and denied 10,729 during fiscal year 2008.
• The top occupations for which PERM applications were filed included: Software Engineers, Computer Systems Analysts, Computer and Information Systems Managers, Electronic Engineers, Computer Programmers, Mechanical Engineers, and Electrical Engineers.
• The DOL also announced that it is postponing implementation of the new PERM application form. The agency had originally planned to require employers and their representatives to file PERM applications on a newly formatted Form 9089 in early 2009.

T&S Comment: The DOL has substantially increased the percentage of cases for which audits are being required, thus creating a backlog in the number of pending cases and increasing the length of time required for PERM certification. The DOL has increased scrutiny of PERM applications in cases for which the agency feels that the job requirements exceed what the DOL considers to be normal for the occupation. Employers should continue to be aware that the potential for audit (and therefore processing delays) is still very high and are urged to start the permanent residency process for their employees as soon as possible. Tafapolsky & Smith will continue to monitor the progress of the PERM backlog at the DOL and report any new developments that may affect the processing of their cases.

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