On October 31, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it had resumed processing of requests for prevailing wages and labor certification determinations for temporary and permanent employment in the U.S. through the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system. That system had been inaccessible since October 1, 2025, due to the government shutdown.

The DOL advised that stakeholders may now prepare and submit new applications, as well as manage pending applications. This means that users may submit and the DOL may process labor condition applications for H-1B petitions, prevailing wage determination requests for H-1B petitions and permanent labor certifications (PERMs), and PERM applications.

While the resumption of these operations is good news, the DOL announcement warns that due to the anticipated high volume of submissions and requests for technical assistance, some stakeholders "may experience longer than normal processing and response times."

Parker Poe recommends that stakeholders contact legal counsel for advice on what actions, if any, to take to move affected cases forward.

Immigration Project Manager Amy Hilton Schuler contributed to this alert.

Check out our Immigration team’s analysis of recent policy changes and their implications for businesses by clicking here.

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