PERM Timelines: How Long Each Stage Takes in 2026

Written by the Ellis Porter content team. This article has not been reviewed by an attorney. It is general information, not legal advice.

A PERM timeline you can actually plan around

If you are trying to plan a move, a family decision, or a visa extension around PERM, a vague answer like "it takes a while" does not help. So here is a concrete one, built from the Department of Labor’s (DOL) own published queues as of October 2026. It is an estimate, and your case can move faster or slower, but it is grounded in real numbers.

PERM is the DOL labor certification behind most EB-2 and EB-3 employer-sponsored green cards. Its timeline is really three clocks in a row: the wage request, the recruitment, and DOL’s review. None of them can be bought down with a fee.

What does a PERM timeline look like if you start now?

Here is a sample calendar for a professional job where the employer requests the wage in November 2026, assuming today’s queues hold and nothing goes wrong:

That puts certification roughly 15 to 18 months after the first step. The table is our arithmetic from DOL’s public data, not a DOL forecast.

Some employers start parts of recruitment while the wage request is pending, which can shave time. But under 20 CFR 656.17(f) the ads cannot show a wage below the prevailing wage, and under 20 CFR 656.10(d)(4) the notice of filing must state a rate of pay that meets it, so many employers wait for the determination first. Your employer’s attorney will sequence this for your case.

Where does each number come from?

Every stage above is anchored to a rule or a published queue.

Prevailing wage: a little over three months

DOL’s processing times page showed PERM wage requests received in June 2026 being processed as of 9/30/2026, for both standard (OEWS) and non-OEWS requests. It also listed 15,959 PERM wage requests remaining from July 2026, 14,980 from August, and 14,519 from September. The determination is required before filing, per DOL’s PERM program page. Under 20 CFR 656.40(c), it is valid for between 90 days and one year, and the employer must file or start recruitment within that window. Our prevailing wage determination guide covers the details.

Recruitment: two months or more

Under 20 CFR 656.17(e), a professional job requires a 30-day state job order, ads on two different Sundays, and three additional recruitment steps. The mandatory steps must occur at least 30 days and no more than 180 days before filing. Only one of the three extra steps can happen entirely within the last 30 days. Under 20 CFR 656.10(d), the notice of filing must be posted for at least 10 consecutive business days, between 30 and 180 days before filing.

DOL analyst review: about 9 to 11 months

As of 10/05/2026, DOL analysts were reviewing applications filed in January 2026, and cases decided in August 2026 averaged 336 days. That is the longest single stretch in the timeline, and it is the part nobody can shorten.

Audit: add several months

Under 20 CFR 656.20, DOL can select a case for audit based on its content or at random. The employer gets 30 days to respond, with one possible extension of up to 30 days. DOL’s audit queue was working on December 2025 filings as of 10/05/2026.

Is the EB-2 PERM timeline different from EB-3?

No. There is one PERM process at DOL, and it does not change based on which green card category the employer later files in. The wage, the recruitment, and the review queue are the same.

EB-2 and EB-3 differ after PERM:

• The Form I-140 is filed in one category or the other. EB-2 requires an advanced degree or exceptional ability; EB-3 covers skilled workers, professionals with a bachelor’s degree, and other workers. See our guides to the EB-2 visa and the EB-3 visa.
• The wait for a green card number depends on the category and your country of birth, as shown each month in the Visa Bulletin. For some countries, that wait is far longer than PERM itself.

Under 8 CFR 204.5(d), your priority date is the date DOL accepted the PERM application for processing, whichever category follows. That is why filing PERM promptly matters more than how long DOL takes to review it.

What happens after certification?

Certification starts a new set of clocks:

1. File the I-140 within 180 days. Under 20 CFR 656.30(b), the certification expires otherwise.
2. Decide on premium processing. Under the USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055, edition 10/16/26), premium processing for an EB-2 or EB-3 I-140 costs $2,965, and USCIS guarantees action within 15 business days. The base I-140 fee is $715 on paper or $665 online, plus an Asylum Program Fee of $600 for most employers. Our I-140 filing fee guide breaks this down.
3. Wait for your priority date. USCIS publishes each month which Visa Bulletin chart employment-based applicants must use to file for adjustment of status. For November 2026, its filing charts page says to use the Dates for Filing chart.

Our I-140 processing time guide picks up the story from there.

What could change the timeline?

A few things are worth watching:

• The October 2026 suspension. On October 8, 2026, the administration announced that DOL would not accept new PERM applications from, or process pending ones for, Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. As of reporting through October 21, 2026, no end date had been set. For those employees, no published timeline applies until processing resumes. PERM continues for all other employers. Read our analysis of the PERM suspension.
• A proposed wage rule. DOL’s March 27, 2026 proposed rule would raise all four prevailing wage levels for PERM and H-1B. As of October 23, 2026, no final rule had been published. A final rule could change wage determinations and how employers plan new cases.
• Government shutdowns. DOL announced on October 31, 2025 that its foreign labor certification office had resumed processing after a pause. A future lapse could do the same.

How to keep your PERM timeline on track

You cannot speed DOL up, but you can avoid adding time:

• Ask your employer to request the wage determination as early as the job is defined.
• Make sure the job requirements reflect the employer’s actual minimums, since a denial or audit costs months.
• Track the 180-day windows on recruitment and on the certified PERM.
• Check DOL’s queues monthly, and use the PERM status check tool once you have a case number.

If your profile is strong, it is also worth asking whether you need PERM at all. EB-1A and the EB-2 National Interest Waiver skip it entirely. A licensed Ellis Porter attorney can assess which path fits; for employers, see our employment-based immigration practice.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Timelines are estimates based on Department of Labor data as of the dates shown and will change. Confirm current times at flag.dol.gov and consult a licensed immigration attorney about your case.

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