The U.S. Department of Labor’s average processing time for PERM labor certifications fell to 336 calendar days for determinations completed in August 2026, according to the Office of Foreign Labor Certification’s latest FLAG processing-times update, dated August 31, 2026. That is 36 days faster than July, when the average stood at 372 days — a meaningful month-over-month improvement for the thousands of employer-sponsored green card cases that cannot move forward until the Labor Department signs off.
Under the new update, OFLC analysts are now reviewing PERM applications filed in November 2025 and earlier. Cases pulled into audit are further behind in real terms: the audit-review queue is working on applications filed in December 2025, but audited files spend additional months in correspondence before a decision. Requests for reconsideration to the certifying officer are being handled for filings from April 2026.
The prevailing wage step — the first stage of most PERM and H-1B cases — is moving at roughly three and a half months. The National Prevailing Wage Center is processing both H-1B and PERM wage determination requests based on OEWS data submitted in May 2026 and earlier, and redetermination requests from June 2026.
What it means for applicants. PERM is the gatekeeper for EB-2 and EB-3 employer-sponsored cases: an employer cannot file Form I-140 until the labor certification is approved. Even at 336 days, a worker whose employer starts the process today should still expect well over a year before the I-140 stage once the prevailing wage determination and the mandatory recruitment period are added. Anyone with a PERM filing from late 2025 should watch for a decision in the coming weeks. Because DOL publishes averages, individual cases — especially audited ones — can take considerably longer.
The PERM timeline is also why many advanced-degree professionals look at the EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW), which lets the applicant self-petition and skip labor certification entirely. With the new fiscal year’s visa numbers arriving October 1 and the October Visa Bulletin expected shortly, cutting a year of PERM processing out of the timeline can make a real difference to when a priority date is established.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, FLAG Processing Times (as of August 31, 2026).
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Source: U.S. Department of Labor (FLAG)