PERM Report: October 2025

The October 2025 PERM labor certification data reflects an extremely small sample of 21 total cases, making broad statistical conclusions unreliable. The most striking feature of this month's data is the overwhelming withdrawal rate: 20 out of 21 cases (95.2%) were withdrawn, resulting in only a single certification and zero denials. This pattern strongly suggests either a strategic withdrawal trend — where employers proactively withdrew applications before a likely denial — or a data snapshot that captures cases mid-processing cycle. The sole certified case came from Intel Corporation in the Manufacturing sector, highlighting that even large, well-resourced employers faced a difficult certification environment this month. California dominated the filing geography with 14 of 21 cases (66.7%), yet achieved only a 7.1% certification rate, reflecting the single Intel certification. All other states — North Carolina, Minnesota, Virginia, and Texas — recorded 0% certification rates. On the occupational front, Software Developers were the most commonly filed occupation (6 cases, avg. wage $172,544), consistent with the broader tech-heavy immigration filing landscape, though none of their cases resulted in certification this month. Healthcare roles such as Home Health Aides also appeared prominently (3 cases), representing the lower wage end of EB-3 filings at an average of $36,504. The average processing time of 272 days (approximately 9 months) reflects the continued backlog at the Department of Labor. With a near-total withdrawal rate dominating the month's outcomes, applicants and employers should interpret this data cautiously — this snapshot likely does not represent final adjudication outcomes for all filed cases, and the true certified-to-denied ratio for fully adjudicated cases may differ significantly from what these raw numbers suggest.