Case Processing Statistics from the Department of Labor (FY2014 Q3)

The Department of Labor has provided some updates for the third quarter of the Fiscal Year 2014 (April 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014) on their processing of PERM, H-1B LCA and prevailing wage determination cases and we are happy to share them with our clients and readers.

DOL Processing Statistics (Third Quarter, 2014 Fiscal Year)

PERM

According to the report, during the quarter, there were 20,173 new cases received (significant increase of 15% from the same period in the prior year), 21,076 certified (notable increase over the previous quarters), 1,504 denied (increase, but in proportion of the rate of new filings) and 1,097 withdrawn (slight increase over previous periods).

There are 55,427 applications pending as of June 30, 2014 with approximately 61% in analyst review stage (slight decrease), 28% under audit review (slight increase) and 10% on appeal (slight increase).  It is interesting to note that there were no cases reported in supervised recruitment — we believe that this may be incorrect reporting, because there are supervised recruitment cases right now at DOL.

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 35,000 prevailing wage determination requests filed — of those, 31,719 were for PERM cases (increase of 9% compared to prior year’s period), 2,016 were for H-1B cases (decrease of 9%) and 1,298 were for H-2B cases (decrease of 10%).     In terms of activity, more prevailing wage determinations were issued in Q3 compared to prior quarters – 36,247 and the pending load has decreased to 14,308 applications (down by 8%).

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 and the top positions and geographic areas.    Since this quarter fell entirely outside of the H-1B cap filing season, the number of LCA filings is lower compared to other quarters during the year, and especially Q2.  Even then, there were 101,629 H-1B LCA filings in the third  quarter.   During the quarter, there were 99,876 LCAs certified for 155,524 positions (one LCA can include more than 1 position).

According to DOL, 100% of the LCAs are processed timely within seven days of receipt (last year’s period metric was 99%).     The rate of LCA denial is fairly low (3,156 out of 110,562 determinations) and the main reasons remain (1) FEIN mismatch or failure to verify before LCA filing  or (2) prevailing wage tracking number issues.

Conclusion

The third quarter of the FY2014 shows increase in the number of DOL filings in a number of categories.   It is interesting to see that the rate of PERM prevailing wage requests has been going up, which is likely to translate into a higher number of PERM filings and, as a result, increase in PERM case processing times.    We are hopeful that DOL would continue to work on decreasing its load and processing times, especially for the PERM cases.    We will continue monitoring DOL processing metrics and report any notable developments and trends.      Please visit us again or subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to ensure that you obtain this and related immigration-related news and announcements.