On October 31, 2025 the Department of Labor (DOL) issued an announcement that the agency had resumed processing of employer requests through the Office of Foreign Labor Certification’s (OFLC’s) Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system for prevailing wages and labor certification determinations for temporary and permanent employment in the United States. The DOL also announced on November 5, 2025 that it will be granting employers that were unable to file PERM permanent labor certification applications and other responses through FLAG because the system’s outage between October 1, and November 2, 2025 a 33-day grace period to file applications and responses that would otherwise be untimely.
FLAG Resumes Operations
Since the DOL relies on federal appropriations funding, rather than fees paid by customers, to maintain its operations, many of its activities, including the processing of applications though FLAG, had been paused since the federal government shutdown began on October 1, 2025. Although the shutdown is still in effect, DOL has, since October 31, 2025, once again accepted prevailing wage and labor certification applications for temporary and permanent employment through FLAG. This system is once again accessible and permits system users to prepare and submit new applications as well as submit and receive information associated with their applications pending a final determination. OFLC’s SeasonalJobs.dol.gov system, an online job registry of H-2A and H-2B temporary job opportunities, has also resumed full operational status. It is not clear what funding DOL has received to enable it to restore the FLAG system or how long the operation of this system will continue during the ongoing federal shutdown.
33-Day Grace Period for Certain FLAG Applications
DOL has recognized that the suspension of public access to the FLAG system because of the government shutdown on October 1 caused a number of employers to be unable to submit requests for prevailing wage determinations or labor certifications or to upload or submit responses to correspondence issued by OFLC prior to the shutdown between October 1, 2025, and October 31, 2025. DOL has thus implemented some temporary changes to its standard procedures related to applications and documents that were impacted by the cessation of FLAG application processing activities from October 1, 2025, through November 2, 2025.
PERM Applications With Expired Recruitment or PWDs
Employers were not able to file PERM permanent labor certification applications during the temporary FLAG outage. During this period, the prevailing wage determination (PWD) and/or the recruitment efforts supporting some of these applications may have expired by exceeding the 180-day limit of the longevity of such determinations and recruitment efforts. While such an expiration would usually result in the automatic denial of a PERM application, DOL has now stated that, if an employer’s recruitment efforts or prevailing wage determination expired between October 1 and November 2, 2025, the employer may submit a PERM application using the expired recruitment efforts or PWD during a 33 calendar day grace period that provides an “automatic deadline extension.”
DOL also notes that employers may receive a warning message from the FLAG system when submitting a PERM application with evidence of recruitment efforts that is outside the 180-day filing window or with an expired prevailing wage determination, but should still be able to complete and submit the application. The DOL also confirms that if an application is denied due to expired recruitment or PWD, the employer may submit a request for reconsideration.
Responses to Requests for Information, Notices of Acceptance, Notices of Deficiencies, Audit Notices, Requests for Reconsideration or Review that Were Due During the FLAG Outage
DOL’s announcement states that responses or other requests for information associated with correspondence issued by OFLC related to applications that were pending on October 1, 2025, which contained a due date for response by the employer during the period of October 1, 2025, through November 2, 2025, will have their due dates automatically extended by 33 calendar days. Employers do not need to submit a request to DOL to extend any submission deadline that fell between October 1, 2025, and November 2, 2025, but are encouraged to submit information and other documentation in response to correspondence issued by OFLC as soon as possible.
H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 Labor Condition Applications
The DOL announcement does not mention Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) that are also filed through the FLAG system in support of H-1B petitions and H-1B1 and E-3 petitions and visa applications. A number of employers may have been unable to file such petitions and applications while the FLAG system was not operational, with the result that an employee’s nonimmigrant status may have expired; such employers are protected by United States Citizenship and Immigration’s (USCIS’) policy, which is stated in its website, that it “will” exercise its discretion to accept H-1B petitions that were not timely filed because of the government shutdown. Specifically, USCIS notes on its webpage regarding “H-1B Specialty Occupations” that if an H-1B petitioner meets all other requirements and provides evidence demonstrating that the primary reason it did not timely file an H-1B petition with a request for an extension of stay or change of status was due to the government shutdown, USCIS will consider the government shutdown an “extraordinary circumstance beyond the petitioner’s control” as a favorable factor in determining whether to excuse the petitioner’s failure to file an H-1B petition on time.
Grace Period Not Applicable to BALCA Appeals
DOL notes that its guidance applies solely to deadlines imposed by OFLC and does not affect deadlines established by the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA). DOL advises employers to contact BALCA at [email protected] with any questions about deadlines.
