Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program

What it does

• •Requires the Secretaries of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to coordinate with the Secretaries of Commerce and Education, and the Small Business Administrator when processing H-1B visa petitions, labor condition applications, and visa entries to ensure compliance with statutory requirements.
• •Directs these agencies to consider whether H-1B employer sponsors have engaged in or plan layoffs that negatively affect similarly situated U.S. workers when evaluating H-1B applications and visa entries.
• •Instructs the Labor Secretary's Wage and Hour Division to review previously submitted labor condition applications within 30 days to determine whether enforcement action against sponsoring employers is warranted.

Why it matters

• •The order asserts that the H-1B program has been systematically abused to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign workers, citing an estimated wage gap of $9,000 to $20,000 and mass layoffs in the technology sector paired with large H-1B hiring.
• •The order identifies alleged widespread fraud and noncompliance among H-1B employers, including worker displacement, misrepresentation of job qualifications and duties, and submission of credentials from diploma mills.
• •Enhanced interagency coordination and stricter application review are presented as measures to restore program integrity and protect American workers in specialty occupations.

Who is affected

• •Employers sponsoring H-1B visa workers, particularly those in outsourcing and technology sectors identified as heavy users of the program.
• •Foreign nationals seeking H-1B nonimmigrant visas to work in specialty occupations in the United States.
• •U.S. workers in specialty occupation fields subject to potential displacement or wage competition.

What happens next

The order takes effect immediately; the Labor Secretary must begin reviewing historical labor condition applications within 30 days and relevant agencies shall coordinate and implement guidance consistent with this executive order and applicable law.