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PERM queue

Filed January 2026

11,486 applications carry a January 2026 filing date. 358 have a decision. 11,128 were still waiting when the scan last checked.

Anything undecided here is read from DOL’s own case-status search, in batches, every 12 hours. That page is also the authority for any single case. Because it is a sweep rather than a live reading, a case decided between sweeps still counts as waiting here, so these backlog figures run a little high rather than a little low.

Where this month sits

DOL publishes November 2025 as the filing month its analyst review is working as of August 28, 2026. January 2026 is 2 months ahead of that, so DOL hasn’t reached it yet.

32,678 cases filed before January 2026 were undecided at their last check, so that’s what sits in front of this month, counting only cases DOL still has to decide. Some will have been decided since, so it runs a little high. It isn’t divided into a wait: the timeline calculator gives the envelope, from the spread of cases DOL has actually decided.

Still pending

9,921 of them are in analyst review, the ordinary queue that moves in filing order. The rest are in queues that take a case out of that order, so their wait doesn’t follow the month.

  • Analyst review 9,921 the ordinary queue, worked in filing order
  • Out of filing order 1,207 an information request, an audit, supervised recruitment or a hold takes a case off the ordinary queue
  • Under appeal or review 0 cases that went to appeal after an adverse determination
Every DOL status a pending case filed in January 2026 was last seen in, grouped by queue
DOL status Cases
Analyst review 9,921
Analyst Review 9,921
Out of filing order 1,207
Application On Hold 1,205
Determination Issued 1
RFI Issued 1

Already decided

358 of the 11,486 applications filed in January 2026 have a final determination. 349 of those are withdrawals, which an employer files rather than DOL issuing a determination. 9 are certifications or denials.

  • Withdrawn 349
  • Certified 8
  • Denied 1

Per-case statuses: flag.dol.gov/recaptcha/caseStatus (DOL, direct) · data through Sep 1, 2026 · daily

Processing times: DOL FLAG (flag.dol.gov/processingtimes) · data through Aug 28, 2026 · daily