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Bipartisan Bill Proposes 30-Day Premium Processing for PERM Green Card Applications
A bipartisan pair of U.S. lawmakers has introduced legislation that could, for the first time, bring a fast-track option to one of the most notorious bottlenecks in the American employment-based green card system: the Department of Labor's PERM labor certification process. Congressmen Lou Correa (D-CA) and Glenn Grothman (R-WI) introduced the PERM Backlog Reduction Act on August 13, 2026. They have proposed an optional premium processing program that would let employers pay a fee to get a 30-day decision on Form ETA-9089, the Permanent Employment Certification Form at the heart of the PERM system.
Here, our EB-1A consultants have discussed the ins and outs of the proposed policy in great detail, as well as what it would mean for the applicants.
Why PERM Has Become the Biggest Checkpoint of the Green Card Process
For workers who are pursuing an EB-2 or EB-3 green card, PERM is the unavoidable first step. Before a U.S. employer can sponsor a foreign worker for permanent residency, the Department of Labor's Program Electronic Review Management system requires the employer to demonstrate, through a structured recruitment process, that no qualified and willing American worker was available to fill the position. Only after that labor certification is approved can the employer move on to filing an I-140 immigrant petition with USCIS, the stage that actually starts the green card process rolling.
That first step has become the slowest one. According to Department of Labor processing data, PERM analyst review currently averages roughly 372 to 403 days on its own before even accounting for the prevailing wage determination stage. The latter separately takes another two to three months, plus the mandatory 60-day recruitment period employers must complete before filing. Added together, immigration attorneys estimate the full PERM process now usually runs 20 to 26 months from start to certification, with audited cases (which can be triggered randomly or by specific red flags) stretching well beyond two years. Unlike the I-140 and several other immigration filings, there is currently no premium processing option available anywhere in the PERM pipeline to speed that timeline up.
The congressional background information accompanying the new bill is blunt about the underlying problem: processing times for both prevailing wage determinations and labor certifications have climbed substantially in recent years even though funding levels and application volumes have stayed stable.
What the Bill Would Actually Do
The PERM Backlog Reduction Act would create a self-funded, opt-in premium processing lane specifically for Form ETA-9089. Employers who choose to use it would pay a $1,200 premium processing fee (a figure set to adjust annually for inflation starting in fiscal year 2028) in exchange for a Department of Labor decision on their labor certification within 30 days. This could provide a dramatic compression of a process that currently takes well over a year on average.
Most importantly, the bill is structured so the program pays for itself. The legislation requires the Department of Labor to set premium processing fees at whatever level is necessary to fully fund the program, and mandates that all fees collected be deposited into a dedicated PERM Premium Processing Fee Account within the U.S. Treasury. That money would then be used exclusively for modernizing the PERM system and reducing the underlying backlog. No taxpayer dollars would be involved.
What the Bill's Sponsors Are Saying
Correa, who represents California's 46th District, framed the bill around the practical toll processing delays take on businesses trying to grow. He argued that companies across the country are being held back from creating jobs and growing the economy by unnecessary government delays, and said the bill would give the Department of Labor the resources it needs to modernize PERM, cut those delays, and make the system work better for employers, workers, and the broader economy.
Grothman, whose district covers parts of Wisconsin, emphasized that the bill preserves the underlying labor-market protection PERM exists to enforce while removing what he described as unnecessary friction for employers who have already done what the process asks of them. He noted that PERM already requires employers to first show they couldn't find an available, qualified American worker before hiring a foreign one, and argued that businesses who have met that bar shouldn't then be stuck waiting through bureaucratic delays that make workforce planning and hiring harder. In his words, the bill is a practical solution that benefits American businesses without costing taxpayers a dime.
The bill has drawn early institutional support from the Critical Labor Coalition, Eb3.Work, and the Coalition of Franchisee Associations. These organizations represent employers and industries that rely heavily on the EB-2 and EB-3 pipelines the PERM process feeds.
What It Would Mean for Applicants If It Passes
The bill's significance lies less in speeding up an applicant's entire green card journey and more in removing uncertainty at its very first, and currently most opaque, stage. PERM approval doesn't grant a green card by itself. Instead, it clears the way for an employer to file the I-140 petition, which itself can take another six to nine months under regular processing, or roughly 15 business days if the employer separately pays for existing I-140 premium processing. And for applicants born in countries like India or China, where employment-based green card categories face severe backlogs due to per-country annual caps, an approved PERM and even an approved I-140 can still mean years of additional waiting for an actual visa number to become available.
Still, immigration attorneys have long pointed to PERM as the single biggest source of unpredictability in the employment-based process. A 30-day decision option, even at a real cost, would let employers and their sponsored employees plan around a known date rather than a moving average that has recently exceeded 400 days.
As with any bill freshly introduced in Congress, the PERM Backlog Reduction Act faces a long road before it could become law. For now, it represents a rare bipartisan acknowledgment that the labor certification stage of the green card process has become dysfunctional enough to warrant a market-based fix.
At GCEB1, our EB-1A experts will closely watch how the policy unfolds and whether it will ever become a voted law. Meanwhile, to get other insights and updates on the U.S. immigration landscape, stay tuned to GCEB1. We wish you a safe and stress-free immigration journey ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the PERM Backlog Reduction Act?
It's a bipartisan bill introduced by Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Glenn Grothman (R-WI) on August 13, 2026, that would create an optional premium processing program at the Department of Labor for Form ETA-9089, the PERM labor certification required for most employment-based green cards.
2. How would the premium processing option work?
Employers could pay a $1,200 fee, adjusted annually for inflation starting in FY2028, to get a Department of Labor decision on their PERM labor certification within 30 days, instead of the current average of well over a year.
3. Why does PERM currently take so long?
Department of Labor data shows PERM analyst review alone currently averages roughly 372 to 403 days, on top of a separate two-to-three-month prevailing wage determination stage and a mandatory 60-day recruitment period, pushing total PERM timelines to an estimated 20 to 26 months even without an audit.
4. Would this program cost taxpayers money?
No. The bill requires the Department of Labor to set fees at whatever level fully funds the program, with all revenue deposited into a dedicated PERM Premium Processing Fee Account used exclusively for modernization and backlog reduction.
5. Is premium processing already available for PERM applications?
No. Unlike Form I-140 and several other immigration filings, there is currently no premium processing option anywhere in the PERM pipeline. This bill would be the first to introduce one.
6. Would this bill speed up the entire green card process?
It would speed up only the PERM labor certification stage. Applicants would still need to go through I-140 processing afterward, and workers from backlogged countries like India or China could still face years of additional waiting for visa number availability, regardless of how quickly PERM is certified.
7. Who supports the bill?
The Critical Labor Coalition, Eb3.Work, and the Coalition of Franchisee Associations have all endorsed the legislation, representing employers across industries that depend heavily on EB-2 and EB-3 sponsorship.
8. What happens to the ETA-9141 Prevailing Wage Determination process under this bill?
While the premium processing fee applies specifically to Form ETA-9089, the legislation states that fee revenue would also help fund improvements to prevailing wage determination processing, since PERM applicants depend on that step as well.
9. Is this bill law yet?
No. It was only just introduced in Congress and must still go through committee review, potential amendments, and votes in both chambers before it could take effect.
Sources & Further Readings
- U.S. Congress. House of Representatives. PERM Backlog Reduction Act of 2026. H.R. 10051, 119th Cong., 2nd sess. Introduced August 6, 2026. U.S. Government Publishing Office. Read on GovInfo
- Correa, Lou, and Glenn Grothman. "Correa, Grothman Introduce PERM Backlog Reduction Act to Address Green Card Processing Delays." Office of U.S. Congressman Lou Correa, August 13, 2026. Read press release
- Grothman, Glenn. "Grothman Introduces PERM Backlog Reduction Act to Address Green Card Processing Delays." Office of U.S. Congressman Glenn Grothman, August 13, 2026. Read announcement
- The Times of India. "US Bill Proposes 30-Day Premium Processing for PERM Green Card Applications." August 19, 2026. Read article
- Haven. "PERM Backlog Reduction Act: Bipartisan Bill Would Create 30-Day Premium Processing." August 14, 2026. Read analysis
- WisPolitics. "U.S. Rep. Grothman: Grothman Introduces PERM Backlog Reduction Act to Address Green Card Processing Delays." August 13, 2026. Read article
- Seehafer News. "Rep. Grothman Joins California Democrat to Target Delays in Immigration Employment System." August 14, 2026. Read article
