The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has postponed the date for submission of permanent labor certification (PERM) applications and CW-1 applications for temporary employment certification in the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system from May 16, 2023, to June 1, 2023.

Quick Hits

• On May 11, 2023, OFLC announced a postponement from May 16, 2023, to June 1, 2023, of the date for filers to submit the new, revised PERM and CW-1 forms in the FLAG system.
• Effective June 1, 2023, OFLC will only accept the new version of Form ETA-9089 and its appendices via the FLAG system. According to OFLC’s announcement, “[a]pplicants should continue to use the current PERM and CW-1 forms until such time.”

OFLC previously announced plans to revise the PERM process to streamline the program, improve the employer experience, and speed up processing of labor certifications.

After May 31, 2023, at 6:59 Eastern Time, OFLC will not accept new applications submitted through the legacy PERM online system. OFLC will no longer accept the previous version of Form ETA-9089 or Forms ETA-9141C/9142C and their related forms, either electronically or by mail after May 31, 2023.

Ogletree Deakins’ Immigration Practice Group will continue to monitor developments with respect to these and other policy changes and will post updates on the Immigration blog as additional information becomes available.