New Timelines for PERM and LCA After Shutdown: Extensions Confirmed

(UNITED STATES) The Department of Labor has rolled out temporary measures to ease the impact of the October 2025 federal shutdown on employment-based immigration filings, announcing a 33-day extension for deadlines tied to PERM labor certification and related filings that fell during the October 1–31 outage period.

Employers and attorneys who were unable to access the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system during the shutdown now have a defined grace period to act, while separate delays for Labor Condition Applications used in H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 cases continue to complicate planning for companies and workers.

PERM shutdown accommodations

• The Department of Labor announced an automatic 33-day extension for PERM-related deadlines that fell within October 1–31, 2025.
• Cases that could not be filed on time due to FLAG being offline may be resubmitted without penalty if the timing problem traces directly to the outage period.
• The agency has begun manual entry of mailed submissions to help reduce backlog, though full guidance on how each case will be treated—especially where recruitment periods lapsed—is still pending.

Employers are watching the guidance closely because the treatment of expired recruitment periods could determine whether costly advertising must be redone and the recruitment process restarted.

PERM processing status and timelines

• PERM processing has restarted, but public timelines lag behind recent activity.
• As of early November, the FLAG portal still displays timelines based on September 1 data; October updates remain pending.
• The most recent figures show the Analyst Review queue is working on cases filed in June 2024, about 472 calendar days on average (approximately 15 months and 17 days).
• Reconsideration Requests are posted as working on filings from July 2025.
• Audit Review shows no active audit processing reported.

These markers help employers gauge expectations, but the absence of an October refresh suggests ongoing data reconciliation as DOL sorts through shutdown-era bottlenecks.

LCA (Labor Condition Application) disruption

• LCA processing for H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 appears to remain suspended as of November 1, 2025.
• An approved LCA is a prerequisite to filing most H-1B petitions with USCIS. The pause effectively creates a hard stop for petition timelines and employee start-date planning.
• Under normal operations, electronic LCA adjudications typically take 7 to 10 business days. There is no premium or expedited pathway for LCAs, so any ongoing pause has immediate downstream effects.

USCIS response and “extraordinary circumstances”

• USCIS acknowledged that DOL delays in certifying LCAs may qualify as “extraordinary circumstances beyond the petitioner’s control.”
• This designation can relieve employers who miss standard filing windows when an LCA could not be certified due to the shutdown.
• It serves as an important backstop for situations like cap-gap transitions, portability moves, and time-sensitive extensions where the LCA is foundational for lawful work authorization.

Practical choices for employers on PERM and LCAs

• With the 33-day extension, employers whose recruitment or prevailing wage validity expired during October can often proceed instead of restarting—if they can document that the shutdown caused the missed filing window.
• Manual entry of mailed cases should absorb some backlog, but practitioners expect slower-than-usual responses as DOL reconciles paper and electronic records.
• VisaVerge.com and other observers recommend anticipating longer-than-normal processing and response times across the system as accumulated cases are worked through.

No expedited options — why the accommodations matter

• Neither PERM nor LCAs offer premium or expedited processing; PERM has no formal acceleration mechanism and LCAs do not provide expedited channels even in normal times.
• Because statutory and regulatory frameworks do not permit fast-tracking, the Department’s shutdown accommodations—notably deadline leniency—represent the only immediate relief available.

Outstanding guidance and financial implications

• DOL has emphasized that additional guidance may follow, especially about how PERM applications are handled when recruitment periods ended during the shutdown.
• A bright-line rule allowing those filings to proceed under the 33-day extension would spare employers weeks of repeated recruitment and potentially thousands of dollars in advertising costs.
• If DOL requires more case-by-case evidence, employers must assemble detailed proof showing the shutdown was the direct cause of delay.

Human impact and sectoral consequences

• Workers and employers face real, immediate consequences:
  • A software engineer nearing the end of optional practical training could miss a status handoff if the LCA pause continues.
  • A hospital recruiting a specialist may face service gaps if PERM-driven immigrant visa numbers can’t be reached on schedule.
  • Families balancing expiring work permits, school calendars, and leases are experiencing ongoing uncertainty.

These lived consequences explain why even limited measures like the 33-day extension matter beyond paperwork—they provide breathing room to keep jobs and lives on track.

Timing risks and the spring H-1B cap season

• Attorneys warn that if the LCA freeze overlaps preparation for the spring cap season, a backlog could transform the usual 7–10 business day window into a much longer wait.
• If DOL must triage backlogged submissions while also handling normal volume, employers may face extended delays.
• Employer groups are urging consistent communication from DOL to enable planning of recruiting pipelines and start dates, even if precise processing predictions are not yet possible.

Immediate action items

1. File what can be filed now through FLAG to benefit from the shutdown accommodations while they are in effect.
2. Document clearly that any missed filing windows were caused by the FLAG outage (retain screenshots, correspondence, mailed receipts).
3. Monitor DOL updates closely for guidance on recruitment-period lapses and manual entries.
4. Coordinate with counsel about potential USCIS relief if LCA-related delays force missed filing windows.

Official updates and resources are available on the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification website: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor.

Bottom line

• PERM labor certification filings benefit from a defined 33-day extension and documented flexibility, giving employers some ability to move green-card processes forward.
• LCA processing for H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 appears to remain paused, creating split timelines: green-card steps may proceed while H-1B petitions are blocked.
• The broader immigration ecosystem will feel these ripples for months, because lost time in government workflows is rarely recovered quickly.