AILA has heard from DOL lately that PERM is ready to go upon 2004 fiscal year budget approval from OEM (The Office of Management and Budget). This news was a month old so.....................U can either way.
Currently, DOL’s processing of employer applications for permanent certification of foreign workers is labor- and time-intensive. It can take up to six years for a foreign worker to be certified as eligible to work in the United States, which undermines the program’s purpose and encourages employers and workers to break the rules. Federal and state reviews are duplicative, contributing to the problem. In 2003, the Department will make changes to the permanent program that will prevent future backlogs by expediting certification and eliminate altogether the state role in the processing of applications. The Department has already streamlined certification for H-1B high-tech workers. The 2004 Budget includes $72 million as the first part of a two-year drive to eliminate the 300,000-case backlog in the permanent foreign labor certification program.