Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has released select statistics on the Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM) for FY 2012. Notable statistics for FY2012 PERM applications include the following:
- Received: 17,700
- Processed: 16,555
- Certified: 12,350
- Denied: 3,312
- Withdrawn: 893
- Audit Review: 26%
- Appeal: 8%
According to the statistics above, approximately 20% of the PERM applications filed in FY2012 were denied.
The current PERM application processing priority dates, as of February 15, 2012, are as follows:
- Normal Review: October 2011
- Audit: June 2011
- Appeal: August 2011
- Government Error Appeals: Current
According to these priority dates, a PERM application under normal review will take, on average, four months to be certified. If the PERM application is selected for an audit, the processing time will increase by about four months, for a total processing time of eight months. Applications on appeal have a processing time of six months. If, however, the denial is a result of a government error, the application will be reviewed when it is received.