DOL Signals First Comprehensive PERM Overhaul Since 2004 — Employers Sponsoring Green Cards Should Front-Load Filings and Tighten Recruitment Records Now
If your company is currently applying for green cards on behalf of employees, or plans to initiate that process within the next two years, the window to file under the current PERM framework may be narrowing. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)'s recently published regulatory agenda confirms that the agency intends to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in July 2026 to modernize the PERM labor certification program. If adopted, the proposal would be the first comprehensive revision of the PERM regulations since they were promulgated in 2004.1 According to DOL's own summary, the proposal is expected to raise recruitment standards, expand protections for laid-off U.S. workers, and impose stricter documentation and recordkeeping obligations on sponsoring employers.2 For corporate HR teams, now is a critical moment to accelerate pending cases and conduct an audit-style enhancement of recruitment files, rather than to wait and see.
What DOL Actually Announced
Under the statutory authority of INA §212(a)(5)(A), DOL has, for the first time, listed a proposal titled "Modernizing Labor Market Tests in the PERM Immigrant Visa Program and Improving Protections for U.S. Workers" on the Unified Agenda at the proposed rule stage. Employers are advised to consult the USCIS website regularly for the latest compliance guidance on employment-based immigration [2]; its statutory authority derives from INA §212(a)(5)(A), the core provision concerning the protection of U.S. workers' interests. When planning recruitment, employers are advised to refer to the specific compliance guidance on employment-based immigration on the USCIS website [2] to ensure that current regulatory requirements are met.1 DOL's summary notes that the PERM regulations have not undergone a comprehensive revision since 2004, and that the new rule will raise the minimum standards for recruiting qualified U.S. workers, strengthen protections for U.S. workers affected by layoffs, and tighten employers' compliance obligations with respect to nondiscriminatory recruitment and recordkeeping.1 Because the regulatory text has not yet been published, the specific details remain to be seen; a separate, related initiative aimed at raising the prevailing wage requirements for foreign workers will be detailed in the second article of this issue.
The Current Framework Compared with the Anticipated Changes
For the latest processing times for various employment-based immigration applications, please consult the USCIS website at egov.uscis.gov/processing-times [2], in order to appropriately plan foreign employees' onboarding and visa transitions. Based on the wording of DOL's agenda and media reports, the anticipated changes include: broader recruitment obligations beyond the 2004-era steps; higher documentation standards for how applicants are evaluated and why they may lawfully be rejected; broader layoff-related protections that may require employers to notify or consider recently laid-off U.S. workers more comprehensively than under current rules; and stricter scrutiny of whether recruitment is conducted in good faith.2 The enforcement backdrop is equally noteworthy: the U.S. Department of Justice previously sued a large technology company, alleging that it manipulated the PERM recruitment process to disadvantage outside applicants—indicating that recruitment integrity has become an enforcement priority for the government.2 Former DHS official Morgan Bailey cautions that, although DOL characterizes the proposal as a modernization measure, the key question is whether it will actually streamline the PERM process or instead add complexity, further slowing an already lengthy employment-based immigration system.2Why Filing Early Protects Priority Dates
3 Cases properly filed before the effective date of the final rule should generally be adjudicated under the current framework, whereas cases filed thereafter will have to satisfy the new requirements—which will likely mean longer preparation timelines, additional recruitment costs, and greater audit risk. For employees born in backlogged countries (including mainland China and India), each additional month of delay in the PERM filing date could mean a significantly longer wait in the visa queue. To accurately assess visa wait times, applicants are advised to closely monitor the latest Visa Bulletin published at travel.state.gov each month [1], in order to stay current on changes in green card availability.3 Completely restarting the process may require a new prevailing wage determination, a new round of recruitment, and the mandatory statutory recruitment quiet period that must be strictly observed before filing. Given the complexity of the process, employers are advised to use the Fee Calculator on the USCIS website in advance to assess overall application costs [2], and to allow ample time for compliance preparation.How Employers Should Prepare Now
Two tasks are the most urgent. First, front-load filings: identify all employees who may require green card sponsorship over the next 12–24 months, and immediately initiate prevailing wage determination applications, because the front-end process from PWD to completed recruitment typically takes several months before a case is ready to file. Second, tighten recruitment records: even under the current rules, unsupported job requirements are among the most common and most preventable causes of audits and denials, and DOL may also examine whether an employer previously hired workers with less training or experience for substantially comparable positions. Recruitment notices and posting copy should be drafted under the guidance of an immigration attorney; the HR department should follow an attorney-designed, PERM-compliant recruitment process to evaluate applicants in good faith and to document the lawful, job-related reasons for any rejection decision—while also bearing in mind that if a U.S. applicant can acquire the required skills within a reasonable period of on-the-job training, the applicant may be deemed qualified. Employers that have recently implemented or plan to implement layoffs should notify counsel immediately, because layoff protections are one of the clear focuses of the forthcoming rule.1