FGI FIVE: U.S. Immigration News Summary – Week of July 14, 2025
Department of Labor updates PERM and PWD processing times for July 2025
The Department of Labor (DOL) has updated its processing times for prevailing wage determinations (PWD) and PERM applications for July 2025.
- As of July 1, 2025:
- DOL has been processing H-1B prevailing wage determinations (PWDs) filed in March 2025 (OEWS) and January 2025 (non-OEWS), or earlier.
- DOL has been processing PWDs for PERMs filed March 2025 (OEWS), and January 2025 (non-OEWS), or earlier.
- DOL has been processing H-1B redeterminations filed in March 2025 or earlier.
- DOL has been processing PERM redeterminations filed in February 2025 or earlier.
- There is no information about H-1B Center Director Redeterminations
- DOL has been processing PERM Center Director reviews requested in June 2024 or earlier.
- Below is PERM processing information for both priority dates and average number of days to process applications as of July 1, 2025:
PERM Processing Times
Average Number of Days to Process PERM Applications
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor: flag.dol.gov/processingtimes
Federal judge issues injunction against Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order
- On Thursday, July 10th, A federal judge in New Hampshire barred President Trump’s administration from enforcing his executive order limiting birthright citizenship nationwide after the Supreme Court restricted judges’ ability to block his policies using nationwide injunctions.
- U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante made the ruling after immigrant rights advocates implored him to grant class action status to a lawsuit they filed seeking to represent any babies whose citizenship status would be threatened by implementation of Trump’s directive.
- The district court has granted this provisional class a preliminary injunction that bars the federal government from implementing the EO against the class, but the injunction is stayed for seven days, providing time for the U.S. government to appeal the certified class and injunction to higher courts.
- The federal government is expected to appeal the district court rulings in an expedited manner.
SOURCE: USA Today, July 10, 2025: www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trumps-birthright-citizenship-efforts-blocked-by-judge-despite-supreme-court-ruling/ar-AA1IlMGN?ocid=BingNewsSerp
US immigration backlog soars in Q2 2025
- In the second quarter of FY2025 (January–March), the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recorded a sharp decline in case completions and a significant rise in pending cases to a record 11.3 million pending applications, according to USCIS’s first major data release of the second Trump administration.
- USCIS completed 2.7 million cases during the quarter, an 18% year-on-year drop from the 3.3 million cases processed in Q2 FY2024. Compared to the previous quarter (Q1 FY2025), completions fell by 12%.
- The agency also reported over 34,000 unopened cases at the end of Q2, marking the first non-zero “frontlog” since Q2 of FY2024.
- The median processing time for Form I-129—used for most employment-based temporary visas—rose by 25% from the previous quarter and over 80% compared to a year ago.
- Form I-90 applications, used to replace green cards, saw the steepest delay. Median processing time jumped 938%, rising from 0.8 months to over 8 months within just one quarter.
- Form I-765 applications, used for work authorizations, also saw a sharp backlog increase. Initial applications pending rose by 87% compared to Q1, while the total number of pending I-765s (including renewals and replacements) rose by 79%, from under 1.2 million to over 2 million. The net backlog—cases delayed beyond acceptable standards—jumped nearly 181% in this category.
SOURCES: economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/latest-updates/us-immigration-backlog-hits-new-high-green-card-and-work-permit-delays-soar/articleshow/122291564.cms?from=mdr; and www.newsweek.com/us-immigration-backlog-hits-all-time-high-2095846
Forbes: Trump immigration policies creating labor shortages
- On July 3, 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its latest jobs report indicating that the Trump’s immigration policies are leading a reduced labor supply and slowing economic growth.
- Citing an analysis from the National Foundation for American Policy, Forbes indicates that the foreign-born U.S. labor force has declined by 735,000 since January 2025.
- The labor force reductions have affected U.S. employers in multiple sectors. Healthcare employers, for example, have struggled to find critical staff (nurses, aides) to provide medical care to Americans.
SOURCE: S. Anderson, “Jobs Report Casts Warning on Immigration and Labor Force Declines,” Forbes, July 6, 2025: www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2025/07/06/jobs-report-casts-warning-on-immigration-and-labor-force-declines/
The content of this article is intended only to provide a general guide to the subject matter. It should not be construed as legal advice. Please contact FGI at info@employmentimmigration.com or (+1) 248.643.4900 for guidance if you have specific questions.