Recently, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification under the U.S. Department of Labor officially released data related to the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 for U.S. employment-based green card PERM applications and H-1B LCA applications and processing. PERM is one of the key steps in the U.S. employment-based green card application process. Only after the PERM is approved can one continue to submit an employment-based immigration petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, so the statistics on PERM effectively reflect the status of employment-based green card applications. Below, let’s take a look with the WorldWay Immigration Group.
PERM application volume plummeted by 17.6%
According to the data, in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor received a total of 34,186 U.S. employment-based green card PERM applications, which is a decrease of 17.6% compared to the same period last fiscal year.
From historical data: from fiscal years 2019 to 2023, the demand for employment-based immigration has generally maintained growth. Even during the most severe phase of the pandemic in 2020, PERM did not experience a substantial decline. It was not until the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024 that PERM applications saw a significant drop for the first time, and this trend has continued into fiscal year 2025. This also indicates that multiple factors, such as major tech companies pausing PERM applications, industry layoffs, and policy uncertainties, have compounded to cause a continuous decline in the number of PERM applications.
H-1B LCA application volume increased by 15.4%
In the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, the total number of H-1B LCA (Labor Condition Application) applications increased by 15.4%. This indicates that despite the unclear immigration pathways, foreign talent is still attempting to remain in the U.S. workforce through H-1B.
From the data: the employers with the most LCA applications are still tech giants such as Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, Oracle, and others.
The most requested positions are almost all from the STEM fields, indicating that technical talent remains the mainstream.
Applications are mainly concentrated in California, Texas, New York, and other areas, which are also traditional technology and financial centers.
On the surface, there is strong demand for H-1B, but in reality, the contradiction of "too many monks and too little porridge" is intensifying. In 2024, the number of H-1B registrations reached 780,000 (compared to only 480,000 in 2023), with the acceptance rate for Chinese applicants being only 11.7%. Although the acceptance rate for fiscal year 2025 has not yet been announced, it is speculated that this round's acceptance rate may be lower than last year. Even if one is fortunate enough to be accepted, issues such as obstacles in the PERM application and risks of layoffs continue to trouble international students, causing their anxiety about their status to rise.
Challenges Faced by International Students in the U.S. and Solutions
For international students in the U.S., traditional pathways are fraught with difficulties, including short OPT durations, shrinking PERM applications, and the challenges of H-1B lotteries, compounded by the transition to green card status through EB2/EB3, as well as job instability caused by layoffs in the tech industry. These multiple challenges are like "layers of obstacles," making the path to staying in the U.S. full of thorns. In this situation, many students are beginning to shift their thinking and seek new immigration pathways. For those who wish to stay in the U.S. for work and life, it is advisable to plan ahead: obtaining a green card status allows for both study and residence!
Currently, the EB-5 investment immigration method is gaining popularity. Under the new EB-5 law, applicants within the U.S., including international students, can submit their I-526E investment immigration application while also applying for I-485 adjustment of status, as long as the EB-5 project category has no backlog. Therefore, applicants can legally stay in the U.S. during the waiting period for green card approval, study and work without employer sponsorship, and enjoy the freedoms of a quasi-green card.
The new EB-5 law stipulates that only rural projects from regional centers enjoy "priority processing rights," and the immigration bureau is also practically implementing the "priority processing rights" policy in the actual I-956F and I-526E approvals. Therefore, rural projects are a premium choice for Chinese applicants to quickly obtain a green card. Interested investors should act quickly, choose quality projects, and apply early to lock in priority dates, making it particularly important to seize the current valuable window period with no backlog.
Currently, the two best-selling EB-5 projects on the market are the "Florida Lakeside Jewish Community," which has received approvals for I-956F/I-526E green card applications three times, and the "Aspen Kodiak Apartments," which has received approvals for both I-956F and I-526E cases. Both projects have been rigorously screened and vetted by the WorldWay Immigration Group, making them excellent choices for your quick immigration to the U.S.
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