PERM Moves a Step Closer
Posted Feb 27, 2004

Progress in the overhaul of the labor certification process known as PERM has moved forward in an important way. As of February 23, 2004, the PERM regulation was with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. As we have explained previously in articles, including our January 30, 2004 article, Progress on Status of PERM Program, available on MurthyDotCom, the OMB reviews potential regulations before they are published in the Federal Register. This review process could take a maximum of 90 days. The OMB has the opportunity to send the regulation back to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) if they have any concerns about those aspects of the regulation that are subject to OMB review. It is not expected that the OMB will review the regulation for the full 90 days, nor that OMB will return the regulations to DOL.

It is most likely that the OMB will complete their review within the next few weeks, and the published regulation will appear in the Federal Register a day or two after the OMB's final review. If the last indications from the DOL remain true, the effective date of PERM will be 120 days after the regulation is published in the Federal Register.

We will continue to track PERM daily, to notify MurthyDotCom readers and MurthyBulletin subscribers when the final PERM regulations are published. This is an important issue for many. We expect that PERM will contain significant changes from the proposed regulation issued previously in May 2002. Stay tuned for information as it becomes available!