Updates from the Department of Labor (H-1B/PERM)

The Department of Labor has provided some updates (as of July 2012) on their processing of employment-based cases and we are happy to share them with our clients and readers.   This kind of information is generally available, but is rarely combined in one place while it is still fairly recent information.

DOL Processing Statistics (Third Quarter, 2012 Fiscal Year)

PERM

According to the report, during the quarter, there were 19,300 cases received (increase from 17,100 in Q2), 7,400 certified (decrease from 9,500 in Q2), 2,600 denied (decrease from 2,900 in Q2) and 800 withdrawn.  As of July 8, 2012, there are 28,400 (increase from 21,000 in Q2) PERM cases pending at DOL.   Of these, 52% are pending analyst review, 37% are in audit, 4% are on appeal, 5% are in supervised recruitment and 2% are in sponsorship verification (at filing).

Prevailing Wage Determinations

The prevailing wage report provides some detailed breakdown of the rate of filings in addition to details about top employers, top occupations and top areas.   During the third quarter, there were approximately 34,000 prevailing wage determination requests filed — of those, 29,412 were for PERM cases (increase of 1% over the Q2), 3,142 were for H-1B cases (decrease of 10%) and 1,045 were for H-2B cases (decrease of 20%).

In terms of activity, less prevailing wage determinations were issued in Q3 – 31,088, a decrease of 14% compared to Q2.   The number of pending applications, however, remains steady, at 14,564, which seems to indicate that we have reached a steady balance in the processing times of prevailing wage determinations — 6-8 weeks.

H-1B/LCA

The H-1B/LCA report also provides a breakdown in the rate of filings, in addition to some details about the top LCA filers, in addition to the top positions and geographic areas.    There were 134,839 H-1B LCA filings in the third quarter, an increase over the past quarters which is mainly attributed to the H-1B cap program which started on April 1st. During the quarter, there were 134,030 LCAs certified for 317,864 positions (one LCA can include more than 1 position).

According to DOL, 99% of the LCAs are processed within seven days of receipt.    The rate of LCA denial is very small (7,061, out of 144,898) and the main reasons are (1) FEIN mismatch or failure to verify before LCA filing  or (2) prevailing wage tracking number issues.