GCSAA wants to make sure H-2B visa employers are aware of the temporary changes to the standard procedures for H-2B applications and documents due to the government shutdown.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced on Nov. 5, that it is implementing several temporary changes to its standard procedures related to applications and documents affected by the cessation of application processing activities from Oct. 1–Nov. 2, 2025.

• For submissions mailed to OFLC and postmarked between Oct. 1 and Nov. 2, 2025, or sent by commercial delivery services, OFLC will manually enter applications and other correspondence received from Oct. 1–Nov. 2, 2025, into the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system. Once the information and related correspondence associated with an application are entered into the FLAG system, a case number will be assigned and the employer will receive a notification that the application has been received for processing. As soon as practicable, OFLC will also respond to correspondence submitted by email or by mail or commercial delivery services once the submitted information has been entered into the FLAG system.
  
  
• Any application or other correspondence submitted by mail or commercial delivery service will be considered to have been filed on the date it was postmarked. Any correspondence sent by email will be deemed to have been received the day it was sent.
  
  
• Responses or other requests for information associated with correspondence issued by OFLC related to applications pending on Oct. 1, that contained a due date for response by the employer during the period of Oct. 1–Nov. 2, 2025, will have their due dates automatically extended by 33 calendar days. Employers do not need to submit a request to extend any submission deadline that fell during the period of Oct. 1–Nov. 2, 2025.
  
  
• Regarding the PERM program, if an employer’s recruitment efforts or prevailing wage determination expired between Oct. 1 and Nov. 2, 2025, the employer may submit applications electronically using the expired recruitment efforts or prevailing wage determination during the same 33-calendar-day period during which an automatic deadline extension has been provided.
  
  
• For H-2A, H-2B and CW-1 applications that could not be filed between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31, 2025, OFLC encourages employers to submit emergency requests by following the regulatory provisions for doing so for each visa program. OFLC notes that the H-2A (20 CFR 655.134) and H-2B (20 CFR 655.17) regulations include provisions permitting employers to request a waiver of the regulatory time period for filing an application, and that the CW-1 regulations contain a provision under 20 CFR 655.422 permitting employers to request permission to submit an application without first having obtained a prevailing wage determination.

OFLC noted that this guidance only applies to deadlines imposed by OFLC; it does not apply to deadlines for submission of appeals to or deadlines set by the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals.