PERM Report: August 2025
Monthly analysis of PERM labor certification cases
Total Cases
16,688
+1,690 vs prev
Certification Rate
93.0%
-1.4% vs prev
Avg Processing
464 days
-10 days vs prev
Audit Rate
N/A
Case Outcomes
Summary
August 2025 PERM labor certification data reflects a robust approval environment, with 15,518 of 16,688 adjudicated cases receiving certification — a 93.0% approval rate across all industries and geographies. The volume of cases signals continued strong employer demand for foreign national workers in permanent positions, particularly concentrated in technology, professional services, and manufacturing sectors. However, the average processing time of 464 days — roughly 15 months — remains a critical bottleneck, meaning applicants approved this month likely filed in mid-to-late 2023, underlining the importance of early and meticulous filing. A striking dual labor market pattern emerges in the occupation data. Software Developers (3,771 cases, avg. wage $141,529) and Data Scientists (376 cases, avg. wage $141,711) dominate knowledge-economy filings, while Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers (689 cases, avg. wage $21,013) rank third overall — reflecting PERM's use across the full wage spectrum, from highly compensated tech roles to essential food-processing labor. This bifurcation matters for EB-3 specifically, as the category serves both skilled and unskilled/other worker subgroups. Geographically, California leads in raw volume (2,958 cases) but posts a below-average certification rate of 90.3%, likely reflecting greater DOL scrutiny of tech-sector filings or more complex job descriptions common in Silicon Valley roles. Georgia stands out with a 96.8% rate among the top five states, and both Texas and New York exceed the national average, suggesting favorable regional adjudication patterns for applicants in those labor markets.
Key Insights
- • The 93.0% national certification rate is historically strong — applicants with well-prepared recruitment documentation and compliant job descriptions face a favorable adjudication environment, but the 7% denial/withdrawal rate still represents nearly 1,170 cases, underscoring that procedural errors remain costly.
- • Average processing time of 464 days means cases filed today will likely not be adjudicated until late 2027; EB-3 applicants should treat PERM filing as a multi-year timeline milestone, not a near-term milestone, and plan I-140 and visa bulletin strategy accordingly.
- • Software Developers account for 22.6% of all PERM cases (3,771 of 16,688), making it by far the largest single occupation — tech workers pursuing EB-3 are in a highly competitive but well-trodden pathway with established DOL precedent, reducing legal uncertainty.
- • Manufacturing has the highest industry certification rate at 96.8% — EB-3 'other worker' applicants in food processing, production, and fabrication roles face the most favorable adjudication odds among major industry categories.
- • The Information sector (which includes most tech companies) posts the lowest certification rate at 90.1% — nearly 3 points below the national average — likely due to DOL audits targeting specialty occupation definitions and recruitment record sufficiency in this sector.
- • Microsoft alone filed 888 PERM cases in August 2025 (5.3% of all cases), yet its 90.2% certification rate trails the national average, suggesting that even large, repeat filers with sophisticated legal teams face meaningful denial risk — independent legal review remains valuable regardless of employer size.
- • Employers in food processing (Consolidated Catfish Producers: 100%, FPL Food: 100%) achieved perfect certification rates at scale, reflecting the straightforward prevailing wage and recruitment documentation for lower-wage occupations compared to tech roles where DOL scrutiny is higher.
Top States
Top Industries
Top Occupations
Industry Analysis
Source: DOL PERM Disclosure Data
Report generated: May 20, 2026