For years, the length of the PERM labor certification process shaped which employees a company could realistically sponsor for a green card. At its late-2025 peak, PERM took about 27 months, including the prevailing wage request. As of September 2026, it takes about 14.
That shift changes the math for many immigration programs. When sponsorship starts early, PERM can now fit inside the STEM OPT period, and H-1B transfer candidates who had already used four or more years of their six-year limit are increasingly realistic hires. For employers, the question is no longer only whether to sponsor, but how soon to start.
What the Webinar Covered
In “Don’t Wait on PERM: Why Starting Green Card Sponsorship Now Pays Off,” Meltzer Hellrung co-founders Matthew Meltzer and Matthew Hellrung walked HR, Talent Acquisition, and Global Mobility leaders through the latest processing data and what it means for sponsorship planning. The discussion covered:
- When to start, by employee profile. How timing differs for employees on STEM OPT, H-1B employees at different points in their six years, and L-1A managers, and why an early start can protect status and support retention.
- Prevailing wage and what the Department of Labor (DOL) has coming. How a proposed rule raising wage levels could affect sponsorship costs and position offers, why the timing of wage requests matters, and the broader PERM overhaul now on DOL’s agenda.
- Alternatives to PERM. When EB-1A or a National Interest Waiver (NIW) can run alongside or in place of PERM, how approval trends have shifted, and how reliable the EB-1B, EB-1C, and Schedule A paths are right now.
- Family-based petitions. When a family petition may be a faster path than PERM, and what employers should decide before agreeing to support one.
The session closed with a five-step action checklist for employers reviewing their sponsorship programs.
Watch the Recording
The full session walks through the timelines and the decision points behind each of these topics, with the context you need to apply them to your own employee roster.
Download the Materials
The presentation includes the processing timelines, a when-to-start matrix by employee profile, a reliability scorecard for each green card path, and the employer action checklist: practical tools for planning conversations with your talent acquisition, people operations, and legal stakeholders.
⚖️ Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. For case-specific guidance, please contact Meltzer Hellrung.
