{"id":279,"date":"2009-12-16T13:16:40","date_gmt":"2009-12-16T19:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.messersmithlaw.com\/?p=279"},"modified":"2026-08-15T23:19:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T05:19:28","slug":"perm-processing-times-and-alternatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.messersmithlaw.com\/?p=279","title":{"rendered":"PERM Processing Times and Alternatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

PERM labor certification processing remains abysmally slow at the the Department of Labor.\u00a0 The DOL recently touted a6% improvement (11% to 17%) in PERM adjudications without 6 months of filing<\/a>.\u00a0 This means that the DOL is now able to issue a decision (approval or denial) in 17% of cases within 6 months.\u00a0 The vast, vast majority are now taking over two years.\u00a0 The DOL is taking a very hard line and they are second guessing every decision made in the recruitment process.\u00a0 Because the current unemployment rate is hovering around 10%, the DOL has decided that most job openings should be filled by US workers.\u00a0 That is having a very negative impact on foreign workers who are applying for permanent residence.\u00a0 Therefore, we are recommending that all green card hopefuls try to avoid PERM altogether.<\/p>\n

There are 11 common paths to US permanent residency (green card) which do not involve PERM labor certification.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 EB1 Extraordinary Ability<\/a><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 EB1 Outstanding Researcher<\/a><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 EB1 Executive Transferee<\/a><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 EB2 National Interest Waiver<\/a><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 EB3 Schedule A Worker<\/a><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 EB4 Religious Worker<\/a><\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 EB4 Violence Against Women Act<\/a><\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 EB5 Immigrant Investor<\/a><\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Marriage Green Card<\/a><\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 Political Asylum<\/a><\/p>\n

11.\u00a0 DV Lottery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PERM labor certification processing remains abysmally slow at the the Department of Labor.\u00a0 The DOL recently touted a6% improvement (11% to 17%) in PERM adjudications without 6 months of filing.\u00a0 This means that the DOL is now able to issue a decision (approval or denial) in 17% of cases within 6 months.\u00a0 The vast, vast … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-labor-certification","category-perm"],"yoast_head":"\nPERM Processing Times and Alternatives - US Immigration Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.messersmithlaw.com\/?p=279\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PERM Processing Times and Alternatives - US Immigration Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PERM labor certification processing remains abysmally slow at the the Department of Labor.\u00a0 The DOL recently touted a6% improvement (11% to 17%) in PERM adjudications without 6 months of filing.\u00a0 This means that the DOL is now able to issue a decision (approval or denial) in 17% of cases within 6 months.\u00a0 The vast, vast ... 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