PERM case number format checker.

What a PERM case number identifies

PERM is the labor certification step that many employer-sponsored green card cases start with. The employer files Form ETA-9089 with the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC), and the application receives a case number. DOL's own record layout for its PERM disclosure files describes the CASE_NUMBER field as the unique identifier assigned to each application submitted for processing to OFLC. That is all DOL says about it: the layout does not explain what the segments mean.

Filing moved systems in 2023. DOL's June 1, 2023 release notes say submissions of Form ETA-9089 and creation of new ones were disabled in the legacy PERM system, with filers able to keep accessing previously initiated cases, while external filers could now submit initiated applications in the PERM module in FLAG. Two eras of case numbers therefore exist side by side.

Two shapes in DOL's own data

To see which shapes are real, we read the CASE_NUMBER column of OFLC's published disclosure workbooks. The FY2023 file holds 116,427 records and every one is A-NNNNN-NNNNN. The FY2024 new-form file holds 22,292 records and every one is G-NNN-NNNNN-NNNNNN, as are all 147,056 records in the FY2025 file. In the FY2024 new-form file the three-digit group was 100 in 13,674 records, 200 in 7,969, 300 in 595 and 400 in 54. DOL does not explain those values, so this checker accepts any three digits there.

One more pattern is visible. In every record, the five-digit middle block began with two digits that look like a year (07 through 24 across the two files) and ended with three digits from 001 to 365. That is what a year plus a day of the year looks like. DOL does not document it, so the checker uses it only as a sanity test: it rejects a middle block whose last three digits are 000 or above 366.

Worked examples

The numbers below are invented to show the shape. Real case numbers belong to real employers and workers.

• A-21100-12345 passes as a legacy number. The middle block 21100 reads as year 21, day 100.
• G10024050123456 has no dashes. It passes as FLAG era and is returned as G-100-24050-123456, the form the status search wants.
• A-21400-12345 fails: the day part is 400, past the end of a year.
• A-2110-12345 fails: the middle block has four digits instead of five.
• P-100-24050-123456 is flagged as the prevailing wage determination shape, not a PERM case.
• EAC2190012345 is flagged as a USCIS receipt number.

Using the number in FLAG

DOL's August 31, 2023 release notes say external filers can search the status of a PERM application by entering the full case number, including the dashes, in the Case Status Search box. If you type the number without dashes the search can fail even though the digits are right, which is why this page restores them. The page does not query FLAG and cannot tell you the status. Open the official Case Status Search for that.

Common mistakes

• Mixing up the three numbers in a green card file. The PWD case number, the PERM case number and the I-140 receipt number come from different steps and look different. The USCIS receipt number checker covers the last one.
• Reading the A- as an A-Number. The letter is part of the DOL case number. The beneficiary's alien number is a USCIS identifier, checked by the A-Number formatter.
• Losing the leading zero in the final block when a spreadsheet converts it to a number.
• Dropping a block. A FLAG number has four groups: the letter, three digits, five digits, six digits.

For related checks, see the I-94 number format checker for the traveler's arrival record, the H-1B wage and employer lookup for sponsor wage data, and the visa bulletin checker for priority dates.

Who this is for

Employers and HR teams copying a case number between systems, workers following their own filing, immigration paralegals tidying a case list, and researchers matching rows in DOL's disclosure data to other records.

What this does not cover

• Case status, processing dates, audits, certification or denial.
• The employer, the worker, the job or the wage on the application.
• Prevailing wage determinations, I-140 petitions or any later green card step.
• Whether a case number exists at all. Only DOL can confirm that.
• Legal advice. Talk to the employer's immigration counsel about the case itself.

Why the check stays on your device

A case number links an employer to a worker's green card process, so the tool never sends it anywhere. The check is a fixed set of format rules applied to text you type. The shapes, counts and the year-and-day observation come from DOL's disclosure files listed under Sources, retrieved in October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What does a PERM case number look like?

DOL's published PERM disclosure data contains two shapes. Older cases look like A-21100-12345 (A, five digits, five digits). Cases processed in FLAG look like G-100-24050-123456 (G, three digits, five digits, six digits). Those two examples are invented to show the shape.

What is the difference between the A- and G- case numbers?

The A- numbers come from the legacy PERM system and the G- numbers from FLAG. DOL disabled new Form ETA-9089 submissions in the legacy system on June 1, 2023, when filing moved to FLAG. In the FY2023 disclosure file every record we checked starts with A; in the FY2024 new-form and FY2025 files every record starts with G.

Do I include the dashes when I search for case status?

Yes. DOL's FLAG release notes of August 31, 2023 say external filers can search for the status of a PERM application by entering the full case number, including dashes, in the Case Status Search box. This page returns the number with its dashes in place.

Is the middle block of the number a date?

It looks like one, but DOL does not say so. In every record we checked the first two digits of that block looked like a two-digit year (07 through 24 across the files) and the last three digits were between 001 and 365, which fits a year and a day of the year. Treat that as an observation, not a documented rule.

Is a PERM case number the same as a prevailing wage determination number?

No. FLAG's June 1, 2023 release notes give the prevailing wage determination (PWD) case number format as P-XXX-XXXXX-XXXXXX, which begins with P. This checker flags that shape instead of accepting it.

Is it the same as the I-140 receipt number or an A-Number?

No. The I-140 receipt number is issued by USCIS and has three letters followed by ten digits. The A- at the start of an older PERM case number is part of the DOL case number and has nothing to do with the beneficiary's USCIS A-Number.

Why did my spreadsheet change the case number?

The last block of a FLAG case number can begin with zero, as in G-100-24050-012345. Programs that read the cell as a number will drop that zero. Format the column as text before pasting.

Does a passing result mean the case exists?

No. It means the characters follow a shape seen in DOL data. Status, dates and decisions can only be read from the FLAG case status search or from your attorney or employer.

Sources

• DOL FLAG, PERM online filing release notes of 6/1/2023 (legacy submissions disabled, PWD case number format) (retrieved 2026-10)
• DOL FLAG, PERM online filing release notes of 8/31/2023 (case status search with dashes) (retrieved 2026-10)
• DOL FLAG, Case Status Search (retrieved 2026-10)
• DOL OFLC, performance data and PERM disclosure files (retrieved 2026-10)
• DOL OFLC, PERM record layout FY2025 Q4 (CASE_NUMBER field) (retrieved 2026-10)