US to overhaul PERM green card process: What Indian workers need to know

Once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, DOL will accept public comments for 30 or 60 days.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) has moved ahead with plans to overhaul the PERM labour certification process, a key step in many employer-sponsored green card applications, potentially bringing the first major changes to the system in more than two decades.

 

However, there is an important caveat for foreign workers planning their US immigration: no new PERM rules are in force yet.

 

The proposed regulation, titled “Modernizing the Labor Market Test and Improving Protections for U.S. Workers in the PERM Immigrant Visa Program,” is currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The US government's regulatory database shows that the proposal entered OMB review on September 14, 2026.

  

Immigration law firm Fragomen said on September 15 that the DOL has begun the process of proposing the new regulation, but that the details will remain confidential until the proposal is published in the Federal Register.

 

What is PERM and why does it matter?

 

PERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is the labour certification process that US employers generally have to complete when sponsoring foreign workers for permanent residence in the **EB-2 and EB-3 employment-based green card categories.

 

The basic purpose is to establish that the employer has tested the US labour market and that there are not sufficient US workers who are able, willing, qualified and available for the job, while also ensuring that hiring the foreign worker does not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed US workers.

 

What is the US government proposing?

 

The DOL's regulatory agenda said it wants to modernise the PERM labour-market test and related requirements.

 

According to the agency's description, the proposed rule is expected to focus on:

 

Minimum recruitment standards:The DOL wants to revise the standards employers must meet when recruiting qualified US workers. 

Layoffs: The proposal would strengthen protections and rules relating to US workers affected by layoffs. 

Non-discrimination:The DOL plans to strengthen employer compliance with non-discrimination requirements in recruitment and hiring. 

Record keeping: The proposal is also expected to address employer documentation and record-retention requirements.

 

The DOL has not yet released the actual regulatory text, so it is too early to say exactly which advertisements, recruitment channels, documentation requirements or timelines will change.

 

Why is the PERM system being revisited?

 

The existing PERM framework has not been comprehensively revised since 2004, according to the DOL's regulatory agenda.

 

DiRaimondo & Schroeder, a US business immigration law firm, said the proposed overhaul could represent the most substantial changes to the employer-sponsored green card process in more than two decades. The firm also stressed that the current regulations remain in force until a final rule takes effect.

 

Boundless Immigration similarly noted that the current PERM system still contains recruitment methods that were designed for a labour market in which newspaper advertising and other traditional channels played a much larger role.

 

What could change for foreign workers?

 

For employees, the most important point is that the proposed changes are primarily aimed at the employer's PERM process.

 

The worker does not personally conduct the labour-market test. The employer has to demonstrate that it has complied with DOL requirements before the PERM application can be certified.

 

If the eventual rules require employers to carry out more extensive recruitment or documentation, this could affect how companies prepare and manage PERM cases.

 

It could also matter for workers whose employers have recently gone through layoffs.

 

Fragomen said the DOL proposal would strengthen rules concerning US worker layoffs and recruitment, while DiRaimondo & Schroeder said employers with recent workforce reductions should pay particular attention to the development.

 

Does this mean existing PERM applications will have to restart?

 

There is no final rule yet and there is no announced requirement for existing PERM cases to restart.

 

DiRaimondo & Schroeder specifically noted that questions about effective dates, transition arrangements and whether certain cases would be grandfathered cannot be answered until the actual proposed regulation and, eventually, the final rule are published.

 

Fragomen likewise said the proposal would not take effect immediately. After publication, there would first be a public-comment period, followed by DOL review and publication of a final regulation with an implementation date.

 

Indian professionals are among the foreign workers who can be affected by changes to employer-sponsored EB-2 and EB-3 green card processing because these categories commonly use the PERM labour certification route.

 

But the PERM proposal should not be confused with the separate **visa-number backlog** or Visa Bulletin process.

 

PERM is one stage of the employer-sponsored green card process. After labour certification, the employer generally proceeds with the immigrant petition and, depending on the applicant's circumstances and visa-number availability, the later stages of permanent residence processing.

 

Therefore, changes to PERM recruitment requirements could alter how an employer starts or manages the labour-certification stage, but they do not by themselves eliminate or resolve visa-number backlogs.

 

Murthy Law Firm reported in July that the DOL's regulatory agenda represented the first formal step towards a significant overhaul of PERM. At that point, however, the firm noted that the proposed regulatory text had not yet been published, meaning the precise changes were still unknown. 

Why this Matters

 

As per Murthy law firm: 

The PERM program serves as the first step for most employer-sponsored permanent residence cases. Although the underlying regulations have remained largely unchanged for over 20 years, employers and practitioners have seen significant changes in recruiting practices, technology, and workforce dynamics.

 

A modernization effort could result in meaningful changes to:

 

• Recruitment methods and timing
• Documentation requirements
• Layoff analyses
• Audit standards
• Employer compliance obligations
• Overall PERM adjudication practices

 

 The immediate next step is the OMB review.

 

Once the proposal clears review, the DOL is expected to publish it in the Federal Register. Fragomen said the subsequent public-comment period could be 30 or 60 days.

 

"The regulatory agenda reflects only the DOL’s intention to publish a proposed rule. Once the NPRM is issued, it will be published in the Federal Register and will include the proposed regulatory text along with a public comment period. After reviewing public comments, the DOL may revise the proposal before issuing a final rule.

 

Accordingly, no changes to the PERM process have taken effect, and employers should continue following the current regulations until any final rule becomes effective," said Murthy Law Firm in a note.