Why are PERM prevailing wage determination requests and PERM application adjudications taking so long?

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) recently reached out to
the DOL's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) with questions about
long PERM prevailing wage determination and PERM application filing
processing times.

These delays have been a problem for a while as both are taking 8+ months in
many cases.  In fact, a prevailing wage determination can take 11+ months in
some cases. This has resulted in PERM cases taking 20+ months from beginning
to end and individuals running out of H-1B or L-1 time.

There are three main reasons for slow PERM prevailing wage determination and
PERM application processing:

1. High number of applications across all programs, including a record number
of H-2A applications and high volume for H-2Bs as well.

2. H-2A and H-2B filings are required to be prioritized over PERM program
filings, leading to slower processing for PERM program cases.

3.  The continuing cumbersome process of implementing new 2018 Standard
Occupational Classifications (SOCs) into determinations.

Help could be, maybe, hopefully on the way as OFLC has submitted a budget
request for FY2023 for 30 additional FTEs. Remember that these are not fee
based matters, so the DOL relies on their budget to have enough resources to
meet demand.  For those involved in advocacy, feel free to contact your
congressional representative and request increased funding for the OFLC.

I hope they are able to improve these processing times. Anything much longer
becomes almost unworkable for PERM matters.