DOL's OFLC Resumes Prevailing Wage and PERM Labor Certification Processing

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has resumed full application processing for employer requests related to both temporary and permanent employment in the United States. The resumption follows a period during which the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system was inaccessible, halting the submission and adjudication of critical immigration filings. The FLAG system is now fully operational, allowing employers and their representatives to prepare and submit new applications, as well as submit and receive information on applications that were already pending a final determination prior to the outage. This restoration is significant for EB-3 applicants, as the PERM labor certification process—administered through FLAG—is a required first step for most EB-3 employment-based green card petitions. In addition to FLAG, OFLC's SeasonalJobs.dol.gov platform, which serves as an online job registry for H-2A and H-2B temporary agricultural and non-agricultural workers, has also been restored to full operational status. OFLC has cautioned stakeholders to anticipate longer than normal processing and response times as the agency works through a backlog of pending requests accumulated during the outage. Employers and immigration attorneys should plan accordingly and build additional buffer time into their PERM and prevailing wage timelines. Applicants with cases pending prior to the outage should log into FLAG to verify their application status and respond promptly to any outstanding requests for information. OFLC indicated it will continue posting technical assistance notices on its website as the transition back to full operations continues.