Two different clocks
Official FLAGDOL publishes a PERM queue month on FLAG. As of August 7, 2026, Analyst Review (standard cases) is September 2025. That number is a monthly snapshot of cases DOL says it is adjudicating.
FLAG also records individual case decisions on business days. Those daily decisions can sit in a nearby filing month. A published queue month and which cases came out today are not the same measurement.
What FLAG publishes
The official processing-times page lists queue months for Analyst Review, Audit Review, and reconsideration, plus a published average in calendar days when DOL provides one. PWD is a separate table. See PWD processing time.
Queue month says which filing month is marked as in process. Average days says how long recently completed cases took. In this snapshot the published analyst average is 372 days. DOL did not publish an audit-review average.
How the archive is recorded
The current row is read from FLAG. Earlier rows are the same FLAG figures as written down in dated contemporaneous republications. Each row keeps its source. Missing audit or average cells stay empty. We do not interpolate months between publications.
February 2026 is the weakest row: the day of publication was not recorded in the source we have, and that republication is thinner than the BAL records used for most other months. Earlier republications usually omit the audit average. Those cells stay empty on the archive.
August 7, 2026
FLAG page
September 2025
Left empty: None in this row
FLAG processing times, August 7, 2026July 17, 2026
Dated record
July 2025
Left empty: None in this row
BAL record of FLAG, July 17, 2026June 30, 2026
Dated record
June 2025
Left empty: None in this row
BAL record of FLAG, June 30, 2026May 31, 2026
Dated record
April 2025
Left empty: Audit queue
BAL record of FLAG, May 31, 2026April 23, 2026
Dated record
January 2025
Left empty: Audit queue
BAL record of FLAG, April 23, 2026March 5, 2026
Dated record
October 2024
Left empty: None in this row
BAL record of FLAG, March 5, 2026February 2026
Weaker record · Low confidence
September 2024
Left empty: Reconsideration
Arvian record of FLAG, February 2026January 5, 2026
Dated record
August 2024
Left empty: Audit queue
BAL record of FLAG, Jan. 5, 2026
The same rows, with every recorded field, are on the snapshot archive.
How a new row is appended
FLAG typically replaces the PERM table around the close of the first work week of each month. After a new table is posted, PERMTime records the FLAG as-of date and the printed fields, keeps the source URL, grades the record (FLAG page, dated record, or weaker), and leaves empty cells empty. When the source is not the FLAG page, a public archive of that URL is saved when one is available. We do not invent months between publications.
What the comparison is
Month comparisonThe filing-month tool subtracts a filing month from the published Analyst or Audit month. The result is a calendar-month gap: before, the same as, or after the official month. That is arithmetic, not a forecast and not an approval date.
What this site does not do
- It does not predict an exact certification or denial date.
- It does not host, scrape, or refresh individual ETA-9089 records.
- It does not rank cases by employer or invent an employer-specific wait.
- It is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor.
Individual case status lives on the official FLAG search. Who publishes this site is on About PERMTime.