How the 43-Day Shutdown Affects PERM Timelines in 2026

(UNITED STATES) A 43-day federal government shutdown in October–November 2025 halted every stage of the PERM Labor Certification process, and the effects are set to ripple through 2026 as the Department of Labor works through an expanded backlog of cases. Processing stopped completely for both prevailing wage determinations and new PERM filings, and employers now face longer queues that officials and legal practitioners expect will stretch overall timelines to 18–24 months or more for many cases filed in the coming months. Operations resumed on October 31, 2025, but the pause left a stack of pending work that will take time to clear, even as normal intake has restarted across the United States 🇺🇸.

What the shutdown interrupted

Before the shutdown, the system was already carrying heavy volume. By the end of 2024, more than 192,000 PERM cases were pending, and average adjudication hovered around 15 to 16 months—about 472 days—for many applications. Those numbers had begun to stabilize in mid-2025 as the Department of Labor made small gains on staffing and workflow.

Prevailing wage determinations — the gatekeeping step for PERM that sets the minimum pay an employer must offer — had improved to roughly four months by September 2025, giving employers a bit of breathing room on planning. The shutdown erased that fragile progress: with staff furloughed and systems idle, no prevailing wage requests were decided and no new PERM applications entered the pipeline for more than six weeks.

That pause created a “hole in the calendar” that will push actual decision dates farther into the future.

Restarting created a dual wave: backlog + pent-up intake

When case processing restarted on October 31, 2025, the Department of Labor faced two simultaneous burdens:

1. Work that would have been completed during the shutdown.
2. A surge in filings that had piled up while intake was paused.

This dual wave has swollen queues for both prevailing wage requests and PERM adjudications. Early practical effects:

• Prevailing wage determinations: Signs point to a slide back toward five to six months.
• PERM adjudication: Overall timelines now commonly anticipated at 18–24 months or more for filings made in late 2025 or early 2026.
• Employers who filed earlier in 2025 will likely see faster movement than those filing after the shutdown.

If prevailing wage delays hold through the first half of 2026, recruitment schedules and the timing for filing ETA-9089 PERM applications will be pushed further out.

Department of Labor’s immediate relief: automatic extension

To soften deadline impacts, the Department of Labor granted an automatic 33-day extension for PERM filing deadlines and responses to audits, requests for information, and reconsiderations that had due dates between October 1 and November 2, 2025.

• Benefit: Prevented denials solely because offices were closed and gave parties time to resume work when systems returned.
• Limitations: The extension could not undo expired recruitment windows or make previously gathered candidate responses current.

Where recruitment windows or results became stale, employers may need to:

• Re-run newspaper or online ads
• Repeat internal postings
• Update wage levels to match new determinations

These steps add weeks or months to a process that was already lengthy.

Practical impact on visa holders and employers

For foreign professionals on temporary visas whose green card sponsorship depends on PERM, the shutdown introduces additional uncertainty and delay. A common pattern has emerged:

• Slower prevailing wage queue → later recruitment start dates
• Later recruitment → delayed ETA-9089 filing
• Delayed filing + thicker backlog → longer adjudication

Who is most affected:

• Workers approaching H-1B max-out periods
• Employers in fast-moving industries who must lock in wages and duties months ahead

According to VisaVerge.com analysis, employers should brace for “front-to-back timelines that now frequently run well beyond a year and a half,” and in many cases crossing the two-year mark when audits are involved.

Operational and cost impacts on recruiting

Recruiting teams that planned fall 2025 campaigns experienced real disruptions:

• Campaigns paused midstream and required recalibration when government reopened.
• Some campaigns need fresh ads to comply with PERM rules because the job market changed during the gap.
• Candidate responses collected before the shutdown may no longer be current.
• New prevailing wage determinations may increase offered wages.

These adjustments mean increased costs:

• More advertising fees
• More attorney time
• Greater uncertainty for sponsored employees waiting for green cards

The agency and timing mechanics

The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification manages the PERM pipeline and sets the pace for employment-based green cards. Key timing mechanics:

• A valid prevailing wage is required before recruitment can start.
• A PERM application must be filed within a specific window after recruitment.
• When a shutdown freezes these steps, delays echo for a year or more.

Employers and practitioners will watch the agency’s public updates on processing times and case volumes closely in early 2026 for signs of improvement.

Planning guidance and realistic timelines

Given the scale of the backlog and the interruption, PERM processing times are unlikely to improve significantly in 2026. Recommended planning assumptions for many cases:

1. Prevailing wage: 5–6 months
2. Recruitment and review: at least 60 days
3. PERM adjudication: 10–12 months or more

Combined, this often results in 18–24 months from start to PERM adjudication, consistent with early post-shutdown reports from employers and attorneys.

Compliance and audit risk — renewed focus

The shutdown has prompted renewed attention to fundamental compliance steps. With recruitment and filing windows shifted, employers should:

• Double-check validity dates on state workforce agency job orders
• Confirm that newspaper and online ads meet content rules
• Keep tight records of applicant review and selection decisions

Important caution:

Small errors that might once have been fixed quickly in a less crowded system can now lead to long delays if a case is audited.

Audits may increase as the Department of Labor processes a spike in filings that arrived at once after reopening. Precision in documentation is now more important than ever.

No premium processing — what can and cannot speed things up

There is no emergency catch-up program or premium processing option for PERM. Unlike other immigration benefits, PERM does not allow fee-based expedited handling.

What that means:

• The Department of Labor must reduce the backlog using ordinary tools (staffing increases, overtime, workflow changes).
• Employers must build extra months into their planning rather than rely on an expedited option.

The two key variables applicants cannot control are the size of the backlog and the Department of Labor’s monthly processing capacity.

Reasons for cautious optimism

The picture is not entirely bleak. Before the shutdown, prevailing wage times had improved to around four months, showing gains are possible even in a crowded system.

• If the Department of Labor can restore that pace by late 2026, employers may see modest improvements on the front end.
• This would help recruitment planning and reduce uncertainty in the medium term.

However, this remains a medium-term hope; near-term effects will continue to reflect the combined drag of the shutdown hole and the post-shutdown wave of filings.

Practical next steps for employers and workers

Seasoned practitioners emphasize three simple actions:

• Move forward promptly where possible
• Document everything meticulously
• Expect and plan for delays

Recommended actions:

• Employers mid-recruitment when the shutdown hit should consult counsel to verify whether ads remain valid or must be repeated.
• Employers who have not filed prevailing wage requests should file ETA-9141 promptly to establish queue position.
• Workers should stay in close contact with company counsel about H-1B max-out dates and bridging options.

These steps don’t speed the Department of Labor’s timelines, but they reduce unforced errors and help position cases as favorably as possible while the backlog slowly thins.

Official resources

For official details and forms:

• Department of Labor PERM program overview: Department of Labor PERM program overview
• Prevailing wage request (form ETA-9141): Prevailing wage request (form ETA-9141)
• PERM application (form ETA-9089): PERM application (form ETA-9089)

As the agency continues working through the shutdown’s after-effects, employers and workers will be watching monthly updates for signs that the long queues for PERM Labor Certification begin to shorten, even slightly, as 2026 unfolds.