The proposed marriage of underdog T-Mobile and upstart MetroPCS is one step closer to the altar today, as the Justice Dept. was given the chance to speak out against the merger but appears to have decided to forever hold its peace.

T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom announced this morning that the mandatory waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 has expired, which means the DOJ won’t be seeking to submarine this merger like it did T-Mobile’s previous attempt to hitch its wagon to AT&T’s.

There are still three hurdles standing in the way of this deal. First is regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Commission. The interagency Committee on Foreign Investment will also chime in.

“The fact that T-Metro’s paperwork passed through the DOJ’s offices without a word is a good sign that the deal will surmount its remaining regulatory hurdles without a hitch,” writes GigaOm’s Kevin Fitchard.

Finally, there are the MetroPCS shareholders who still need to agree to the deal. They are scheduled to vote on the matter on April 12.

While some MetroPCS stockholders have voiced concern about the terms of the merger, the volks at DT claim that “the MetroPCS board unanimously recommends that stockholders vote their shares FOR all of the proposals relating to the proposed combination with T-Mobile.”

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