DOL Seeks Public Comment on Possible Expansion of Schedule A

• On December 15, 2023, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published a request for public comment on revisions that it is considering making to Schedule A of the permanent labor certification process. These possible expansions could include occupations in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and other non-STEM occupations, and the DOL has invited the public to comment on the proposed revisions through February 20, 2024.

• This is significant because revisions have not been made to Schedule A in approximately 20 years. If DOL lists a foreign national’s occupation on Schedule A, an employer can avoid labor certification and lengthy PERM processing, something that has increasingly taken more and more time as DOL backlogs have increased in the last several years.