AI Generated Image (not an actual PERM application)
PERM processing times now average about 10 months, two months faster than the Labor Department’s six-month average, while prevailing wage requests for PERM cases are being worked from August.
PERM processing times at the Labor Department have fallen to an average of 300 days, according to the agency’s latest figures, current as of Oct. 31, 2026. The update from the Office of Foreign Labor Certification matters to every employer sponsoring a worker for an employment-based green card and every worker waiting on one, because labor certification is the first gate in most EB-2 and EB-3 cases: its filing date becomes the worker’s priority date, and the Form I-140 petition cannot be filed until it is certified.
The trend inside the numbers is the real news. Cases decided in the 30 days before Oct. 31 took 300 days on average from filing to analyst decision. Over the past 90 days the average was 315 days, and over the past 180 days it was 360. Because the shorter windows are lower, cases leaving the queue now have waited less time than those decided earlier in the year, a sign the backlog in analyst review is easing rather than growing. The department does not publish averages for audited cases or those placed in supervised recruitment, which take longer.
| Measure (as of Oct. 31, 2026) | Figure |
|---|---|
| PERM analyst review, last 30 days | 300 days |
| PERM analyst review, last 90 days | 315 days |
| PERM analyst review, last 180 days | 360 days |
| PERM prevailing wage, OEWS requests now processing | Received August 2026 |
| PERM prevailing wage, non-OEWS requests now processing | Received July 2026 |
| H-1B prevailing wage, OEWS and non-OEWS | Received July 2026 |
| PERM prevailing wage redeterminations | Received August 2026 |
| PERM center director reviews | Received September 2026 |
The prevailing wage step is the tighter squeeze
Before an employer can file a PERM application on ETA Form 9089, it needs a prevailing wage determination from the department. Those requests are moving in roughly two to three months for PERM cases: at the end of October, analysts were issuing determinations for OEWS-based requests received in August and for non-OEWS requests, which rely on other wage sources such as employer-provided surveys, received in July.
The pending pile is large. The department listed 14,925 PERM prevailing wage requests still pending from August, 14,400 from September and 13,179 from October, with 1,346 left from July. Those three most recent months add up to 42,504 requests, a calculation from the department’s figures, and each one represents a green card case that has not yet reached the PERM filing stage.
Add the recruitment the regulations require, including a 30-day state job order, two Sunday newspaper ads and a 30-day waiting period before filing, and a case that requests a wage determination today is still looking at well over a year before a certified labor certification is in hand, on current averages and without an audit.
Why PERM processing times matter this fall
Faster processing arrives just as the rules underneath PERM are shifting. The department’s PERM overhaul proposal cleared White House review in October, and a final rule raising prevailing wage levels for H-1B and PERM cases is now at the White House as well. A higher wage floor would apply to new determinations, which is why some employers are weighing whether to secure determinations under the current wage levels while they can. A determination is valid for a set period, between 90 days and one year under 20 C.F.R. 656.40(c), and the employer must begin recruitment or file within that window to use it.
Demand is also changing. IBM’s decision to end H-1B and green card sponsorship for most US consulting roles is the clearest example of a large employer pulling back. If more companies follow, filings could fall and shorten queues further. If the wage rule pushes employers to file early, the prevailing wage queue could grow before it shrinks. The next update, covering November, will start to show which force is stronger.
This article is for general information and is not legal advice.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, FLAG processing times (as of Oct. 31, 2026); 20 C.F.R. 656.40, prevailing wage determinations; 20 C.F.R. 656.17, PERM recruitment requirements.
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