The Trump administration is tightening H-1B visa scrutiny, examining employer layoffs and renewing a USD 100,000 fee for selected petitions, reports Asian Lite News Desk
The Trump administration has tightened oversight of the H-1B visa programme, directing US agencies to scrutinise employers that have recently laid off, or plan to lay off, American workers in similar roles while renewing a USD 100,000 fee for certain H-1B petitions.
US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order and a Presidential Proclamation on Friday aimed at strengthening oversight of the programme and increasing coordination between federal agencies, according to a White House fact sheet.
Under the Executive Order, the Departments of State, Labour and Homeland Security will be required to consider an employer’s recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated US workers when reviewing H-1B applications.
The agencies have also been instructed to consult the Departments of Commerce and Education and the Small Business Administration for information on wages, industry conditions and employment specialisations when administering the programme.
Separately, the Proclamation renews a USD 100,000 fee requirement for certain H-1B petitions. The fee was first introduced in September 2025 and the administration says it is intended to discourage practices that displace US workers and address national security concerns.
The White House said H-1B registrations from some of the largest IT outsourcing companies had fallen by 92 per cent since the 2025 measure took effect.
It also claimed consular processing requests had fallen by nearly 97 per cent and argued that the policy had contributed to a shift towards higher-skilled and higher-paid foreign workers.
The administration has accused some employers of replacing American workers with lower-paid H-1B employees and argued that the programme can put downward pressure on wages.
“More work must be done to improve interagency coordination in the assessment of H-1B visa petitions,” the White House said.
The administration also pointed to its decision in December 2025 to replace the H-1B lottery with a weighted selection system based on wage levels. It said registrations for fiscal year 2027 fell by almost 40 per cent and that it was the first year selections were determined by wage rather than a randomised lottery.
The White House cited unemployment figures among recent computer science and computer engineering graduates as evidence for its argument that American workers need greater protection. It said unemployment among recent graduates in the two fields had reached 6.1 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively before the 2025 proclamation.
The administration also highlighted broader changes to the US labour market, claiming more than one million jobs had been added since Trump returned to office, including manufacturing and factory construction jobs.
It said the manufacturing sector had expanded for eight consecutive months and pointed to tax and workforce measures introduced in 2025, including tax exemptions for overtime and tips and the creation of Workforce Pell Grants for people entering skilled trades.
The administration has also said it is pursuing investigations into H-1B fraud and other practices it believes give visa holders an unfair advantage over American workers.
The latest measures increase scrutiny of employers using the H-1B system and place greater emphasis on wages, layoffs and the type of work being performed.
The H-1B programme allows US employers to hire foreign workers in specialised occupations, including technology, engineering and other skilled fields. It has long been used by American technology companies and outsourcing firms to recruit workers from countries including India.
