Across programs and over time · Wage year 2026-27
PERM prevailing wage, and how it differs from H-1B
Both programmes read the same wage file. In one, an employer can look the figure up itself. In the other, it has to ask, and the answer shapes the recruitment that follows.
Read this firstThis is a computed reading of published federal data and published federal guidance, not legal advice. Only the Department of Labor issues prevailing wage determinations, and only the Department of Labor decides whether an obligation has been met. Where a rule below is our reading rather than a verbatim quotation, the text says so.
Permanent labor certification, universally called PERM, is the labor market test that precedes most employment-based immigrant petitions. It reads the same prevailing wage tables as a Labor Condition Application. Past that, the two processes diverge on almost every point that matters operationally.
The determination is mandatory
For an LCA, an employer may look the figure up in the published tables and enter it on the form. For PERM it can’t. The employer requests a determination from the National Prevailing Wage Center on Form ETA-9141 and uses the figure that comes back. The mechanics of that request are covered in The prevailing wage determination request, Form ETA-9141.
That changes the shape of the case. The wage arrives before the recruitment does, it arrives with a validity period attached, and the level assigned in the determination is a department decision rather than an employer position. Our reading of 20 CFR 656.40 is that the determination carries a stated validity window and the case has to move inside it, but the regulation itself is what governs and it should be read.
The full prevailing wage, not a fraction of it
The wage offered on a PERM case has to equal or exceed the prevailing wage. There’s no discount, and there hasn’t been one for a long time. Any advice built on paying a percentage below the figure is describing a rule that no longer exists.
When the wage has to be paid
This is the difference people find most surprising. An LCA wage obligation attaches to the employment it supports, and it’s enforceable now. A PERM wage is a wage the employer represents it will pay when the worker attains permanent residence. The two can be different numbers on the same worker at the same time, and there’s nothing irregular about a person on an H-1B at one level while a PERM case runs at a higher one.
The level is built from the minimum requirements
On a PERM case the job requirements are doing two jobs at once. They set the wage level, and they set what the recruitment has to test. Requirements written high push the wage up and narrow the pool of US applicants who can be considered qualified. Requirements written low do the opposite. That tension has no equivalent on an LCA, and it’s why PERM requirement drafting is a slower exercise.
The step logic that turns those requirements into a level is the same logic set out in How the four wage levels are determined, resting on the occupation attributes described in Job Zones, and how they set the experience baseline.
Side by side
| LCA (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3) | PERM | |
|---|---|---|
| Wage source | Published tables, or an approved alternative | Determination from the National Prevailing Wage Center |
| Determination required | No, optional safe harbour | Yes |
| Main form | ETA-9035 / 9035E | ETA-9089, after ETA-9141 |
| Wage owed | During the employment supported by the filing | On attaining permanent residence |
| Recruitment test | None | Yes, and the wage constrains it |
| Governing part | 20 CFR 655 subparts H and I | 20 CFR 656 |
Compiled from the published regulations for each programme. Our summary, not a quotation. Verify each row before relying on it.
The wage tables underneath both are identical. For Software Developers in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ in wage year 2026-27, Level I is $109,845 and Level IV is $193,461 a year, and a PERM determination and an LCA lookup are choosing from the same four rows. What differs is who chooses, when, and what the choice commits the employer to.
Computed from ALC_Export.csv in OFLC_Wages_2026-27.zip, wage year 2026-27.
More in across programs and over time
- Multiple worksite locations on one filing. Per-site obligations, posting at each place, and the short-term placement allowance.
- H-1B versus H-1B1 versus E-3, and how the wage rules differ. One wage rule, three classifications, and a table of what actually differs.
- Amended petitions and material change. What counts as material, the geographic rule, and what happens to the wage when the job moves.
- Wage level and the H-1B lottery, including what changed and what didn’t. What’s settled about the cap and the wage obligation, and the selection question we won’t answer.
All 24 guides are indexed at Guides. Wage figures throughout are read from ALC_Export.csv, wage year 2026-27.