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 Administration when processing H-1B visa petitions, applications, and labor condition applications.
• •Directs these agencies to consider whether employers have engaged in or plan layoffs affecting similarly situated U.S. workers when evaluating H-1B petitions and visa applications.
• •Instructs the Secretary of Labor's Wage and Hour Division to begin reviewing previously submitted labor condition applications within 30 days to determine if enforcement action against sponsoring employers is warranted.
• •Delegates presidential authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to the Secretaries of State, Commerce, Labor, and Homeland Security to issue rules and guidance implementing the order.

Why it matters

• •The order articulates concerns that H-1B program abuse has displaced American workers, suppressed wages (estimated at $9,000 to $20,000 below comparable U.S. workers), and enabled outsourcing of jobs originally performed in the United States.
• •The order identifies alleged widespread fraud and noncompliance among H-1B employers, including misrepresenting job duties, falsely qualifying positions as specialty occupations, and submitting questionable foreign credentials.

Who is affected

• •Employers sponsoring H-1B visa workers, particularly those in technology and outsourcing industries with large-scale H-1B hiring patterns.
• •Foreign nationals applying for or holding H-1B nonimmigrant visas to perform specialty occupation work in the United States.
• •U.S. workers in skilled occupations and specialty fields potentially affected by employer layoffs or hiring decisions involving H-1B workers.

What happens next

The Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division begins reviewing historical labor condition applications within 30 days to identify potential enforcement actions, while the named agencies develop coordinated policies and guidance on H-1B petition processing.