Authorized by the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017, the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is an investment program that aims to update government services in order to enhance customer service, cybersecurity, and governmental entities. The Fund plans on doing this by decreasing the amount of independent data systems used and by transferring all paper files into one system. This will ensure that data can be more easily found, and documents are less likely to be lost.
Last month, the TMF announced an $7.2 million investment into the Department of Labor’s PERM Labor Certification system. PERM is the system in place for getting a Labor Certification. It is often the first step for a foreign national to receive an employment-based immigrant visa. The current PERM system has been used for twenty years.
TMF’s PERM Visa Modernization project will create a more secure and efficient way of sharing data and will make it faster and cheaper for employers to access services. The faster process will also help foreign nationals to continue work in the United States as they will not have to wait on system delays. This investment will dramatically change the process for PERM filers to submit applications and for PERM analysts to review applications.
With the TMF investment, standardized and secure data will be shared and provided throughout the entire immigration process and throughout the process of applications. It will also improve border flow, capacity management, and give decision makers the tools needed to increase flow and timeliness. TMF would streamline modernization and significantly improve immigration processes.
To learn more about TMF, visit tmf.cio.gov