Last month’s government shutdownmade it impossible to file PERM Applications. The problem has continued into November, as the iCert portal has beeninundated with a large volume of filings. The Department of Labor fortunately has issued a blog posting explaining thatEmployers and Employees will not be prejudiced.
According the blog posting, any PERMfiling on or before November 14, 2013 will be considered timely filed even ifthe PWD or recruitment has nominally expired. The iCert system will warn the user that theapplication 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 determinationsduring the shutdown period and are now unsuitable for filing due to expiredrecruitment or prevailing wage determinations.
Similarly, any response due to the DOLbetween October 1 -18, 2014 will be deemed timely filed if received at the DOLprior to November 14, 2013.
The DOL blog posting also notes thatany document that was filed with their office between October 1 – 18, 2013 willbe given a receipt date of October 18, 2013. Since October 18, 2013 is before November 14, all of these documents arealso timely.