A data note is a short account of one thing the record shows, with the numbers, the date they were read, and what they do and don't support. This is the first. The subject is the status DOL explains least and the one that, right now, describes almost exactly one employer. For today's holds by employer, see PERM Tracker's employers under review page, which dates each time DOL moved an employer's cases as a group.
of 1,854 applications on hold belong to one employer
Cognizant Technology Solutions US Corporation, as DOL prints the name. Read from DOL's live case index on September 8, 2026. The other 23 cases are spread across six small filers.
What the record shows
On September 8, 2026, 1,854 cases sat at APPLICATION ON HOLD, and 1,831 of them (98.8%) were Cognizant Technology Solutions US Corporation's.
| As of September 8, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Cases at APPLICATION ON HOLD | 1,854 |
| Held by Cognizant Technology Solutions US Corporation | 1,831 (98.8%) |
| Their filing dates | December 17, 2025 to February 13, 2026 |
| By filing month | 234 in December, 1,205 in January, 393 in February |
| Median time since filing, all on-hold cases | 235 days (middle 80% between 211 and 252) |
| Other employers holding cases | 6, with 23 cases between them, filed January to November 2025 |
Two shapes are worth reading off that table. The Cognizant cases were filed inside nine weeks and are being held together, which is the signature of one decision applied to one batch rather than something happening case by case. The 23 other cases are the opposite. They're a handful of small filers, spread across a year of filing dates, which looks like the ordinary trickle of individual holds.
What moved, and what didn't
This site has watched DOL's status of every pending case daily since August 26, 2026. In the fourteen days to September 8 the event log recorded exactly one case leaving APPLICATION ON HOLD, back to ANALYST REVIEW, on September 8. It also recorded three cases entering the status on August 29 from CERTIFIED. That's an unusual direction, and it's noted here without an explanation. DOL's index showed the transition, and the record has nothing more to say about it.
Everything else has stood still. No Cognizant case has left the hold in the observation window, and none has entered it. So the batch was placed on hold before this site began recording transitions. The record can date the filings. It can't date the hold.
What this does and doesn't support
The record supports saying the status is mostly one employer's, and it doesn't support any statement about why the batch is held or when the hold lifts.
- It supports saying that APPLICATION ON HOLD, today, isn't a general condition of the PERM queue. Fewer than 1.9% of pending cases carry it, and 98.8% of those are one employer's.
- It supports saying that a case held since before August 26 hasn't moved in at least two weeks, because the log would show it.
- It doesn't support any statement about why the batch is held. DOL publishes no definition of the status and no notice about this employer. The on-hold guide says what the status means and stops there.
- It doesn't support a forecast of when the hold lifts. One case moving in fourteen days is one case. It isn't a rate.
How to check it yourself
The stage page lists every case at the status with its employer and filing date, sorted oldest first, with a CSV. The employer's page shows the same filings against the rest of its record. Both are read from the same nightly sweep, so the numbers agree with each other and carry the same date.
Related
- Every case status, explained
- Employers under review, which ranks sponsors by the share of their pending cases held, RFI'd or appealed
- Read the denial and audit rates
