Revamping of Labor Certification Process – Final Perm Program to be Released Soon

The Department of Labor is in the process of amending its regulations regarding the implementation of the PERM program designed to minimize the complications and delays associated with the current procedures for the filing of permanent residence applications and to provide for more consistent adjudications. The newly revamped system will also reduce the lengthy backlogs from current processing times of as much as 3 years to less than 21 days.

The Department of Labor's final PERM regulation was sent to OMB on February 23, 2004. OMB has up to 90 days to review the regulation and can either seek an extension or send it to the Federal Register for publication. If OMB has substantial comments, DOL will need to review and act accordingly before the PERM rule is published. If published in the Federal Register, the new PERM program will take effect 120 days after publication. After the PERM rule is released and prior to implementation, DOL will post information on its website explaining the new process. DOL also plans to hold four public education seminars on PERM in various locations across the country. GT attorneys have been participating in a DOL working group to review the DOL program.

Prior to implementation, the PERM processing centers must be made operational with space secured, systems in place, staffing arranged, and policies established. These operational issues are being worked on in order to ensure the processing centers have procedures in place for implementation. Under the new PERM program, there will be two PERM processing centers – in Atlanta and Chicago.

The State Workforce Agency’s will continue to accept cases until the actual implementation date of PERM. After PERM is released, employers will NOT be able to file applications under the current traditional filing method or under the Reduction in Recruitment method. After PERM is implemented, the number of cases in the backlog will be fixed. There are roughly 300,000 cases currently in the system. The DOL will implement two new Backlog Reduction Centers in Philadelphia and Dallas to help reduce the backlog of cases filed prior to the implementation of PERM. DOL already has funding for the Backlog Reduction Centers who will be tasked with reducing the backlog while maintaining processing in the order of priority dates. Contractors will play a significant role in the processing of applications at the Backlog Reduction Centers but DOL will make the ultimate decision on cases as applications must be certified by the Secretary of Labor. Several regions have already sent applications to contractors for processing in an effort to reduce the significant backlogs.

It may be possible to convert existing cases to the new PERM system enabling foreign nationals to keep their priority date. However, the existing case must meet the PERM advertising requirements. Any old cases that are not convertible will continue to be processed under the current system through the Backlog Reduction Centers.

As further information on the PERM program becomes available, Greenberg Traurig will provide updates both on our internet site and future editions of our newsletter.

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