How to Check PERM Status With or Without a Case Number

To check PERM status, go to the Department of Labor’s FLAG case status search at flag.dol.gov/case-status-search, enter the case number assigned to your ETA Form 9089, and read the status the system returns.¹ The lookup is public, free, and updates in real time. As of February 2026, regular PERM cases are averaging 512 calendar days from filing to decision, so what matters almost as much as the status label is knowing how to read it against the queue.²

Find Your Case Number First

The search tool matches the case number exactly, so you need it in hand. For applications filed after May 31, 2023, the number follows the format G-XXX-XXXXX-XXXXXX: the “G” identifies the PERM program, then a three-digit visa ID, a five-digit date code, and a six-digit sequence number.¹ The number appears on the filed ETA Form 9089 and on any DOL correspondence your employer or attorney has received.

If you don’t have the number, ask. Your employer is required to keep the recruitment and filing records for the PERM application, so HR or the attorney of record should be able to produce it.³ Older cases filed before May 31, 2023, aren’t in FLAG at all; those live on the legacy portal at plc.doleta.gov.¹

Running the Search on FLAG

The Foreign Labor Application Gateway handles all current PERM certifications.⁴ From the FLAG homepage, the case status link sits under Resources, or you can go directly to flag.dol.gov/case-status-search. You can paste up to 30 case numbers into the box, one per line, which is useful when a company is tracking multiple filings at once.¹

A boundary worth naming: FLAG is not USCIS. The Department of Labor handles the labor certification only; USCIS gets involved later, once the certified PERM is used to file the I-140 immigrant petition. If you’re looking at a USCIS case tracker, you won’t find PERM information there.⁵

What Each Status Means

FLAG returns one of a handful of labels. What each one signals in practice:

Analyst Review. The application is in the active queue, either being examined by an analyst or waiting for one. This is the normal state for a case moving through processing.
Audit Review. DOL has pulled the case for additional scrutiny. Audits can be random or triggered by something in the filing, and your employer will need to submit supporting documentation, including recruitment records and proof that no qualified U.S. worker was available.
RFI Issued. A Request for Information has gone to the employer or attorney asking for specific documents or clarification.
NOAD Issued. A Notice of Amended Decision. This typically appears when the Certifying Officer intends to deny the application and is giving the employer a chance to respond before the final decision.
Certified. The labor certification is approved. A 180-day clock now runs on filing the I-140.
Denied. The application did not meet the requirements. The employer has 30 days to request reconsideration or appeal.
Withdrawn. The employer pulled the application before a final decision.

You may also see “Reconsideration Appeals” or “BALCA Appeals” if the case is under review after a denial, and “Denied – BALCA Affirmed” if the appeal board upheld the original denial.

Reading Your Status Against Processing Times

A status label on its own doesn’t tell you whether your case is on track. Pair it with the monthly processing times DOL publishes at flag.dol.gov/processingtimes.² As of February 2026:

Regular Analyst Review cases: currently adjudicating September 2024 filings, averaging 512 calendar days.
Audit cases: currently adjudicating June 2025 filings.
Reconsideration requests: currently adjudicating September 2025 requests.

Those dates tell you which filing month DOL is working through now. Compare it to your own filing date. If you filed after the posted month, a pending or Analyst Review status is expected and there’s nothing to escalate. If you filed well before the posted month and your case is still pending, something specific to your filing may be holding it up.

The page refreshes at the close of business on the first workday of each month, so checking more often won’t surface anything new.²

Getting More Detail Than the Public Tool Shows

The public search returns the status label and not much else. FLAG account access itself belongs to the employer and the authorized attorney or agent, not to you as the foreign worker.⁶ The attorney of record receives all formal DOL correspondence, including audit letters, RFIs, and final certifications, and some of that never shows up in the public tool. If you want to know whether a deadline is coming up or what documents were requested, ask the attorney directly.

When a case has genuinely stalled past the published queue, the employer or attorney can email the OFLC PERM helpdesk at oflc.plc@dol.gov.⁷ The working threshold is roughly three months past the currently posted adjudication date; earlier inquiries typically get a form reply pointing back to the processing times page. Technical problems with the FLAG portal itself go through a separate online support form, not that email address.

When the Status Changes to Certified

A Certified status starts a hard deadline. The certification expires 180 days after approval, and the employer must file Form I-140 with USCIS before it lapses. USCIS rejects petitions filed with an expired labor certification, with no exceptions and no extensions.⁸ If day 180 lands on a weekend or federal holiday, USCIS accepts the petition on the next business day, but waiting for the edge is a bad idea.

If your status flips to Certified, confirm with your attorney the same week that the I-140 is in preparation. A certified PERM that sits unfiled for five months becomes worthless on day 181, and starting over means fresh recruitment, a new filing, and a new spot in the queue.⁹

When the Status Changes to Denied

A Denied result isn’t automatically the end, but the response window is short. The employer has 30 days from the denial date to act, with two paths available.¹⁰

One path is a request for reconsideration to the same Certifying Officer who issued the denial. It has to identify the case, explain the grounds, and include a copy of the final determination. The other path is an appeal to the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA). A BALCA appeal on a denial is limited to the evidence already in the record; you can’t introduce new documents at that stage.¹⁰ The employer can also skip both and refile from scratch, which resets recruitment and the queue.

Miss the 30 days and the denial is final. If FLAG shows Denied, call your attorney that day.

1
U.S. Department of Labor. Case Status Search
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Processing Times
3
eCFR. 20 CFR 656.17 – Basic Labor Certification Process
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Foreign Labor Application Gateway
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Permanent Labor Certification (PERM)
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Foreign Labor Certification
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Office of Foreign Labor Certification Help Desk
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 6 – Permanent Labor Certification
10
eCFR. 20 CFR 656.26 – Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals Review of Denials of Labor Certification