PERM Tracker
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PERM processing times

Where DOL's queues stand, from its own published figures, checked daily.

DOL FLAG queue page: October 5, 2026
DOL disclosure files: fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026

The analyst review queue

DOL is reviewing PERM applications filed in December 2025.

Jun 25
Jul 25
Aug 25
Sep 25
Oct 25
Nov 25
Dec 25 DOL is here
Jan 26
Feb 26
Mar 26
Apr 26
May 26
Jun 26
Jul 26
Aug 26
Sep 26
Oct 26
Processed Still pending

DOL's figure, as of October 5, 2026. Source

Average to a determination

336 days

about 11 months, for determinations DOL issued in August 2026.

Audit review queue

December 2025

Audited cases sit in their own queue, behind the main one.

Prevailing wage (PERM)

June 2026

OEWS requests. Non-OEWS: June 2026.

How the queue has moved

Across the 46 days between the two DOL publications on record here, the analyst review queue advanced 3 months.

Sep 2025Oct 2025Nov 2025Dec 202520 Aug 202631 Aug 20265 Oct 2026
Each step is a published DOL reading.

How fast it advances

DOL publishes where the queue stands and overwrites it, so its own pages can never say how fast it is moving.

How this is measured

Reconstructed from the determination dates in the disclosure files: for each month DOL issued decisions, the filing month at their median. It is the same frontier the section above tracks, measured a second way and much further back.

Measured advance

1.80×

months of filing queue cleared per calendar month, over the 6 determination months to June 2026. At 1.00× the queue holds station, so at 1.80× it is gaining on the backlog.

It has ranged from 0.33× to 2.50× over rolling three-month windows, so it describes the past rather than predicting a case.

October 2023 to June 2026 (the queue advanced 30 months across it)

Nov 2022May 2023Oct 2023Feb 2024Aug 2024May 2025Oct 2023Feb 2025Jun 2026
Each step is one month of DOL determinations, at the filing month of their median. Rebuilt from DOL's files: DOL never published these as readings.
Which files, and how solid each point is

Reconstructed from DOL's disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, so it ends where those files end and is a quarter behind the readings above. Its points aren't equally solid either: the thinnest month in the series is a median over 5,519 decisions and the fullest over 19,787. Every month's count is in the next part.

How much DOL decides in a month

Every determination in DOL's quarterly disclosure files, counted by the month it was issued. Those files run a quarter behind the queue page.

33 months, 373,939 decisions

Determinations recorded in DOL's quarterly disclosure files, counted by the month the decision was issued. The median month in this record carries 11,081 decisions.

October 2025 carries 21. That’s what the files contain for that month, and the files don’t say why.

Every queue DOL publishes

DOL's figures as of October 5, 2026: the filing month each PERM queue is working, and the wage requests still waiting.

Queue Currently working
Analyst Review December 2025
Audit Review December 2025
Reconsideration Request to the CO May 2026

Prevailing wage requests still pending

Requests DOL hasn't decided yet, by the month it received them, as of September 30, 2026. Each month's running total is how many sit ahead of it.

  1. April 2026 8
  2. May 2026 36
  3. June 2026 3,532
  4. July 2026 15,959
  5. August 2026 14,980
  6. September 2026 14,519
Every month DOL still has undecided prevailing wage requests in, oldest first. Each bar is a count of requests still pending.

Where your case sits

Your own filing month against these figures, the steps after PERM as people report them, and an email when DOL reaches your month.

Your filing month, against the queue

The calculator reads your own filing month against these figures.

Estimate your decision date

After PERM, as people report it

Not enough reports yet for a median at any step. Add yours from a certified case's page; the PERM half is filled in from DOL's record.

All green card timelines

Email me when DOL reaches my month

One email when DOL's analyst-review queue reaches the month your case was filed, and nothing after it.

You confirm by email first. One click turns it off.

More options

One address watches one filing month per queue; a new month replaces the old one.

FAQs

How long is PERM processing taking right now?
DOL publishes an average number of calendar days to a determination each month, alongside the filing month its analysts are currently working. Both carry the date DOL attached to them. The average describes cases DOL finished recently, so it describes the past rather than forecasting your case.
What does the analyst review priority date mean?
It’s the month whose applications DOL is currently adjudicating. If the date reads September 2025, DOL is working through cases filed in September 2025. It’s a queue position, not a decision date, and it moves forward as DOL clears cases.
Why is the prevailing wage date different from the PERM date?
They’re two separate queues at two separate stages. A prevailing wage determination comes before recruitment and before the ETA 9089 is filed, so it has its own backlog and its own published position. DOL also updates the two sections on different schedules, which is why they carry different as-of dates here.
Can PERM be processed faster than the published average?
There’s no premium processing for PERM. An individual case can take longer if DOL issues a request for information (RFI) or selects it for audit. Audited cases sit in a separate queue that DOL publishes its own date for.
Where do these numbers come from?
Directly from the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification, at flag.dol.gov/processingtimes, each with the date DOL attached to it. PERM Tracker reads that page daily and keeps every publication, because DOL overwrites its own and keeps no archive. Where a number is missing here, DOL didn't publish one.

The deadlines you control

The recruitment window, the quiet period and the filing window are fixed arithmetic on your prevailing wage determination date. PERM Tracker computes them per case and reminds you before each one.

Start tracking free

There’s no case limit. See the recruitment checklist for the deadline math itself.

Processing times: DOL FLAG (flag.dol.gov/processingtimes) · data through Oct 5, 2026 · daily

What this data includes

Processing times: DOL's published queue position and average determination time. DOL's own figure, not ours.

Cite this page

Waiting on a PERM case?

  • When it'll likely be decided
  • An email when DOL moves it

It's on your ETA-9089 receipt. It goes into the page's address, so you can bookmark the result.

Don't have the number? Find a case by employer name.