Following the government shutdown, the iCERT and PERM portals were re-started on Friday, October 18, 2013, but remain slow and spotty. Users have reported that Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) that were submitted in late September (roughly 9/23 to 9/27) that remain pending.
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) Help Desk has indicated that PERM applications, where the automatic sponsorship survey was required to be submitted during the government shutdown period (October 1 through October 18 of 2013), will be adjusted to provide an additional seven days to complete the survey through the PERM online system. Applicants will be notified when the case adjustment has been completed. In addition, the Department of Labor has advised that it will be re-sending PERM verification questionnaires electronically for those PERM cases for which questionnaires had not been sent due to the shutdown.
DOL has indicated that it continues to work on getting all programs and processing times back on track and is also developing responses to questions created by the shutdown to ensure equal treatment of all cases