Case Processing Statistics from the Department of Labor (FY2014 Q4)

The Department of Labor has provided some updates for the fourth quarter of the Fiscal Year 2014 (July 1, 2014 to September 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 (Fourth Quarter, 2014 Fiscal Year)

PERM

According to the report, during the quarter, there were 21,559 new cases received (an increase of 3% from the same period in the prior year), 15,401 certified (notable decrease over the previous quarters), 1,065 denied (decrease, but in proportion of the rate of new filings) and 1,035 withdrawn (about the same as the prior quarter).

There are 59,901 applications pending as of September 30, 2014 with approximately 60% in analyst review stage (slight decrease), 30% under audit review (slight increase) and 9% on appeal (slight decrease.  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 fourth quarter, there were approximately 37,000 prevailing wage determination requests filed — of those, 31,738 were for PERM cases (increase of 3% compared to prior year’s period), 1,558 were for H-1B cases (decrease of 14%) and 3,357 were for H-2B cases (decrease of 40%).     In terms of activity, 36,247 prevailing wage determinations were issued during the fourth quarter and the pending load has remained steady over the past quarters to about 14,619.

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 93,796 H-1B LCA filings in the fourth quarter.   During the quarter, there were 90,367 LCAs certified for 178,352 positions (one LCA can include more than 1 position).

According to DOL, 100% of the LCAs are processed timely within seven days of receipt.     The rate of LCA denial is fairly low (2,390 out of 100,620 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 fourth 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 over the past two quarters, 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.