The Department of Labor will be centralizingi prevailing wage processing.  The agency is scheduled to open its prevailing wage center in Washington, DC to begin centralized processing of PERM, H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 NIV programs as of January 1, 2010.

Prevailing Wage Requests will be submitted to the National Center rather than to the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs).

The processing times from state to state vary widely at the present time and the determinations are not always consistent.  We’re not sure what to expect with the new program.  At the onset there will probably be longer processing  times, though DOL is assuring that this should result in more consistent prevailing wage determinations over time.