This guide is for someone whose PERM is still waiting at DOL while the visa bulletin already shows their priority date as current. It happens when a category's cutoff reaches your PERM's filing date before DOL's queue does. It's good news with a catch: nothing can be filed with USCIS until DOL certifies the PERM.
Why the date is already yours
Your priority date is "the date the labor certification application was accepted for processing by any office of the Department of Labor" (8 CFR 204.5(d)). That's your PERM's filing date. It's fixed now, which is why you can already compare it to the bulletin, even though the petition that will carry it hasn't been filed.
What can be filed while the PERM waits
| Filing | Can it go in now? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The I-140 | No | Every EB-2 and EB-3 petition "must be accompanied by an individual labor certification from the Department of Labor" (8 CFR 204.5(k)(4), (l)(3)) |
| The I-485 | No | It needs the I-140 filed with it or before it (8 CFR 245.2(a)(2)(i)(B)) |
| An EAD or advance parole on the I-485 | No | Both rest on a pending I-485 (8 CFR 274a.12(c)(9)) |
| An H-1B extension past six years | Yes, if the PERM was filed 365 days before the extension would start | 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(D) |
| Documents for the I-140 and I-485 | Yes | Nothing stops you gathering them, and it saves weeks later |
Where your PERM is in the line
Start with your case. Put the number into case status and the page shows DOL's current status, the date it last changed, and an estimated decision date with its range. If the case is in analyst review, its place depends on how far DOL has reached:
As of October 5, 2026, DOL's analyst review is working cases filed in December 2025, and its published average from filing to a decision is 336 days, measured on the cases it decided in August 2026.The processing time calculator works the same estimate from a filing month, and the scorecard shows how close those estimates have come. A status other than analyst review has its own guide: RFI issued and on hold are the common two.
What happens on the day it's certified
The I-140 can be filed
The certification's 180-day clock starts too (20 CFR 656.30(b)(1)), so this is the moment the attorney has been waiting for. Premium processing guarantees USCIS action within "15 business days for most classifications".
If the date is still current, the I-485 can go in with it
Filing the two together, concurrently, is allowed when approving the I-140 "would make a visa immediately available" (8 CFR 245.2(a)(2)(i)(B)). USCIS names the chart that decides it each month. For October 2026 it was the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based cases.
The work permit and travel document follow
The I-765 and I-131 can be filed with the I-485 or after it, and renewals no longer extend automatically, as the EAD guide explains.
The risk while you wait
A current date can stop being current. The bulletin moves back when demand outruns the year's visas, and a date that's current in the month DOL certifies your case is the one that matters. If it moves back before the I-485 goes in, the I-140 can still be filed alone, and the I-485 waits for the next time the date is current. If it moves back after the I-485 is filed, the retrogression guide explains what stays in place.
Two things help:
- An alert on the bulletin. The visa bulletin page emails you the day each new bulletin is published.
- An alert on your case. Your case page takes an email and writes when DOL changes the status, so you hear of the certification the same day.
Get ready now
- Your PERM case number and filing date
- Birth certificate for you and each family member, with translations
- Passports, I-94 records and every visa you've held
- Degree certificates and transcripts the job's requirements rely on
- Experience letters matching the experience on the PERM
- Marriage certificate, if your spouse is in the case
- The medical exam, timed with the attorney (the I-693 guide explains when)
The document checklist goes through each stage in more detail.
What to ask the attorney
- Is the I-485 going in with the I-140, or after it?
- Will the I-140 go premium?
- Which chart will we check, and on what date, before filing?
- Can my family's documents be reviewed now, so nothing waits on them later?
Nothing here is legal advice. The attorney decides the filing plan and its timing.
What this guide can't tell you
- When DOL will certify your case. The estimate is an estimate, and the scorecard shows its record.
- Whether your date will still be current then. The bulletin can move either way, and nobody can promise it won't move back.
- Which chart USCIS will name next month. It decides each month, usually within a week of the bulletin's publication.
