PERM Processing Dashboard

What ImmiLane Measures — and Where the Numbers Come From

Most PERM "processing time" figures you will find online are quarterly averages the Department of Labor publishes weeks after the fact. ImmiLane takes a different approach. We re-scan the DOL's public labor-certification dataset several times every day, recording the exact moment each case flips from analyst review to certified, denied, or withdrawn. That lets the charts above answer a sharper question than "what is the average?" — namely, which specific filing months the DOL is actively clearing right now, and how fast the frontier is moving week over week.

Reading the processing frontier by filing month

The DOL works through PERM applications grouped by the month they were filed, but it does not finish one month before starting the next. In practice several adjacent filing months are "open" at the same time, and within any open month the certifying officers pull cases without regard to the employer's name — the old assumption that adjudication runs alphabetically by company no longer holds. Because ImmiLane timestamps every status change, the dashboard can show how much of each filing month has already cleared and how the share certified climbs as that month matures. When a brand-new filing month suddenly shows its first certifications, that is a leading signal the frontier has advanced, and you will see it here days before it appears in any official summary.

Employer-level detail, not just national totals

Aggregate counts hide a lot. A filing month can look "half done" nationally while a single large sponsor — a consulting firm or a big tech employer with thousands of cases — skews the picture. ImmiLane keeps the data resolved down to the individual employer, so you can search the company sponsoring your case and see how its filings specifically are moving, what fraction have certified, and whether its cases are drawing an unusual number of audits. This employer-level view is the part of ImmiLane you will not find in a generic processing-time chart, and it is what powers the per-company pages and the search box in the navigation bar.

How the certification estimate is built

The Estimate tool does not quote a one-size-fits-all "12 to 16 months." Instead it takes your filing month, measures the DOL's observed clearance pace for the months immediately ahead of yours, and projects when the frontier is likely to reach your filing date at the current rate — then widens that into a range to account for audits and month-to-month variation in DOL output. As fresh scans change the underlying pace, the estimate moves with it. The full methodology, including how we treat audited cases and recruiting-delayed filings, is written up in our estimate methodology guide.

What the status labels mean

• Analyst Review: the case is in the DOL queue or actively being adjudicated by a certifying officer.
• Certified: labor certification approved; the employer has 180 days to file the I-140 with USCIS.
• Audit: the DOL has asked for supporting documentation before deciding, which adds months to the timeline.
• Denied: the application was not approved; the employer may request reconsideration or appeal to BALCA.
• Withdrawn: the employer or its representative pulled the application before a decision.

New to the process? Start with our plain-English overview of PERM, then dig into the guides library for deeper explainers on DOL ordering, the visa bulletin, EB categories, and audits.

Disclaimer: ImmiLane is an independent data tool for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Labor. Nothing here is legal advice. Figures are estimates derived from observed DOL data and will not match every individual case. Consult a qualified immigration attorney for guidance on your specific PERM application.