PERM 9141 Determination: IT Project Manager = Project Management Specialist (13-1082)

The July 2022 updated SOC provides many new occupational codes, including 13-1082 (Project Management Specialist); but the new SOC code does not exist in the OOH. Complexity reigns.

This is a post about a relatively obscure topic in U.S. immigration law, namely prevailing wage determinations used in PERM labor certification applications.

If you live in the world of H-1B petitions and PERM labor certifications, then you know that there are relatively technical (and often illogical) aspects to processing them. This post will not explain all the varied frustrations with the system, but rather take note of the mixed blessing that are the now-available new SOC codes.

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As background, when a U.S. employer wants to sponsor a green card for any foreign national, the employer must generally go through the PERM labor certification process. PERM is managed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). PERM is stage 1 of the traditional 3 stage employer green card process.

[This assumes the candidate is not exempt from PERM through the limited PERM-exempt options like EB-2 NIW, or First Preference - EB-1A, EB-1B, or EB-1C].

One of the requirements for every PERM application is that the employer submit a 9141 prevailing wage request. Right now in July 2022 the 9141 prevailing wage requests are being processed at very slow processing times (historically record slow processing times). So it can easily take 6 months to get a 9141 determination.

A request submitted in January 2022 can easily take until July 2022 to be issued.

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Each July, the DOL updates the prevailing wage data used in determining 9141 prevailing wages.

This year, since July 1, 2022, the DOL has used an updated salary survey (per usual) but also an updated list of occupations (known as the SOC).

The updated SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) is integrated into both the ONET system and the DOL’s prevailing wage data. It is actually the 2018 SOC, so it ‘only’ took DOL 4 years to get the new SOC codes into use with foreign labor certification.

You can geek out on the 2018 SOC codes here - https://www.bls.gov/soc/2018/home.htm.

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If you live in the world of H-1Bs and PERMs, you know that DOL has two publications that inform USCIS officials on analyzing individual job descriptions and requirements. The two DOL publications are ONET and the OOH.

ONET is a DOL online resource to find occupations and information about occupations. ONET is influential in establishing, for example, whether a position is a specialty occupation eligible for H-1B designation. H-1B petitions can only be approved for “specialty occupations.”

The DOL’s ONET publication is found here -

https://www.onetonline.org/

The DOL’s prevailing wage data is found here -

https://www.flcdatacenter.com/OesWizardStart.aspx

[WARNING: For regular users of the DOL’s prevailing wage website, the new site is slightly unsettling! It is like looking at the Drudge Report in 1999.]

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In January 2022, our firm filed a 9141 prevailing wage request form for an IT Project Manager. We believed the appropriate ONET category (SOC Code) for the position at the time was 15-1199.09 (IT Project Manager). So we listed that code as the suggested code on Form 9141.

Very recently, this week, we received the 9141 determination for the position. The code given for our client’s IT Project Manager was 13-1082 (Project Management Specialists). This is a new ONET code, one of the codes now available as of July 1, 2022 from the 2018 SOC code update.

The ONET description of the new code 13-1082 is here -

https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/13-1082.00

This new code could be very useful for H-1B and PERM labor certification applications as there are many foreign nationals qualified to fill project management roles in IT. Anyone familiar with the modern medium to large corporation knows that IT project management is an important function. The new code of 13-1082 is in some ways preferable to the old code, 15-1199.09, as the old code was a ‘stub’ code or ‘catch-all’ code. For highly technical reasons, the ‘stub’ codes are disfavored by USCIS in H-1B adjudications and disfavored by DOL for 9141 prevailing wage determinations.

So on the one hand, the new code 13-1082 seems solid and could be useful for H-1Bs and PERM filings. But that is not the end of the story.

One slight challenge is that the new code (13-1082) does NOT exist in the OOH. You see, in addition to relying on ONET, the USCIS adjudicators will also regularly reference the DOL’s Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), and the OOH does not have a Project Management Specialist category. The OOH’s closest option is the IT management occupation is Computer & Information Systems Manager, which is something different on ONET and would generally have a much higher prevailing wage than 13-1082.

Why do some occupations exist in ONET and not the OOH? Just to drive immigration professionals insane!

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So, this is just one example (albeit very obscure to the layman) of how the new SOC codes can provide some benefit as perhaps more accurately reflecting the proposed duties of a position offered, and per ONET, the new code might more clearly qualify as a specialty occupation (all good); but the new code of 13-1082 is not without some possible confusion.

By not having a corresponding reference in the OOH, it is possible USCIS adjudicators will push back on use of this code. This approach of looking for discrepancies between the ONET and OOH has not, thankfully, happened much under the Biden Administration, but mining ONET and OOH for problematic language and discrepancies was very much alive and well as a way USCIS adjudicators denied H-1Bs under President Trump.

Bottom Line: If you are in this world, dealing with both old and new SOC codes for H-1Bs and PERM applications, tread carefully!