Green Card Applicants Face 336-Day Wait as US Labour Backlogs Grow

The US Department of Labor (DOL) is taking an average of 336 days to review permanent labour certification applications, while more than 45,000 prevailing wage requests remain pending, adding to delays for foreign professionals seeking employment-based green cards.

The delays affect a key stage of the US employment-based immigration process, which allows employers to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residence. Although immigration discussions often focus on visa categories such as the H-1B, labour certification is an essential step for most employer-sponsored green card applications.

The Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme requires employers to demonstrate that hiring a foreign worker will not harm the wages or working conditions of US workers. In most cases, employers must obtain certification from the Department of Labor before filing an immigrant petition with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The department must establish that there are not enough qualified and available US workers to fill the position and that employing a foreign national will not negatively affect the local labour market. Processing figures published in October 2026 show that the department is reviewing PERM applications filed in December 2025. 

Audit reviews are also facing lengthy delays, while requests for reconsideration by certifying officers are being processed according to earlier filing dates. The department reported an average processing time of 336 calendar days for analyst reviews in August 2026. Individual cases may take longer or shorter depending on their circumstances, but the figures show that applicants and employers face substantial waiting periods.

Indian professionals are particularly affected because Indian nationals make up a significant share of employment-based immigration applicants and face some of the longest waits for permanent residence. Annual visa limits contribute to these delays, and the additional time required for labour certification can further extend the process.

Cloudera was recently barred from participating in the programme for two years. Previous Department of Labor actions also affected major employers, including Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini.

Many of these companies employ large numbers of Indian professionals, making developments in labour certification compliance particularly relevant to workers pursuing permanent residence through their employers. Another source of delay is the prevailing wage determination process, which must generally be completed before an employer files a PERM application. 

During this stage, the Department of Labor determines the minimum wage an employer must offer for a particular occupation in a specific location. More than 45,000 prevailing wage requests remained pending at the end of September 2026, according to department data. Most were submitted during the summer, with June, July, August and September accounting for substantial numbers of applications. 

The department notes that pending totals can change when applications are withdrawn or declared void. Processing of prevailing wage requests for both PERM and H-1B cases is currently focused on applications received in June 2026. Although the H-1B-related queue is smaller than the PERM backlog, processing remains slow. Appeals and requests for redetermination are handled separately, adding to the department's administrative workload.

The delays make workforce planning more difficult for employers that rely on skilled foreign workers. Recruitment and retention decisions often depend on the timing of labour certification, visa status and immigrant petition filings. When one stage takes longer than expected, the entire process can be affected.

For workers, prolonged processing can create uncertainty over career moves, employment options and long-term plans to settle in the United States. The administration is also considering changes to the PERM system. A proposed rule to modernise the programme has been submitted to the White House for review. It aims to update labour market testing requirements, strengthen protections for US workers and revise procedures that employers consider outdated.

Lawmakers are separately considering measures to reduce the backlog. One proposal, the PERM Backlog Reduction Act, would introduce premium processing for Form ETA-9089 labour certification applications.