Program electronic review management (PERM) is the system used for obtaining labor certification
What is PERM?
Question: I am planning on filing a Labor Certification and have heard about a PERM program. Can you shed some light on what this is?
Answer: Actually, the PERM program is going to be a much faster route for the Labor Certification. However, it is not yet here but there has been some guidance from top government officials on the progress of PERM.
The Department of Labor expects the regulations to be published before the end of 2004. Afterwards, they expect the regulations to take effect in 60 days. Normally, a Labor Certification goes to the State Workforce Agency (SWA) first for processing before it goes up to the federal Department of Labor.
Question: What is the contingency plan if the regulations are not published by the end of 2004?
Answer: In 2005, the SWA’s will send their caseload to newly made centralized federal locations. They will only send them to the determined central federal locations for processing at the federal level. The backlog centers are in Philadelphia and Dallas. The goal is to get rid of the years of backlog cases by processing them through these backlog centers. As for permanent national centers, these will be located in Atlanta and Chicago and will be operational next year.
Question: If the regulations do not go into effect on January 1, 2005, what must I do with my Labor Certification?
Answer: The SWA will still accept the case. They will time-stamp the filing, but they will not process the case. They will then send the case to one of the two new regional processing centers in Atlanta or Chicago once they are up and running.
As of now, there are basically DOL Labor Certification centers all across the nation. It is certainly a new day for Labor Certifications. Hopefully, the years of waiting will come to a reasonable and happy end.