PERM FILINGS IN THE WAKE OF THE iCert BLACKOUT

Last month’s government shutdown made it impossible to file PERM Applications.  The problem has continued into November, as the iCert portal has been inundated with a large volume of filings.  The Department of Labor fortunately has issued a blog posting explaining that Employers and Employees will not be prejudiced.

According the blog posting, any PERM filing on or before November 14, 2013 will be considered timely filed even if the PWD or recruitment has nominally expired.  The iCert system will warn the user that the application contains information that will cause the application to be denied, but such an application will not be denied for this reason.  This accommodation applies only to PERM applications that had timely recruitment or prevailing wage determinations during the shutdown period and are now unsuitable for filing due to expired recruitment or prevailing wage determinations.

Similarly, any response due to the DOL between October 1 -18, 2014 will be deemed timely filed if received at the DOL prior to November 14, 2013.

The DOL blog posting also notes that any document that was filed with their office between October 1 – 18, 2013 will be given a receipt date of October 18, 2013.  Since October 18, 2013 is before November 14, all of these documents are also timely.