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Improving Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Foreign Nationals in the United States

Proposed ruleProposed Mar 27, 2026

This is a PROPOSED rule. It is not in force, may change before finalisation, and may never be finalised.

Read on Federal Register ↗

Where it stands

  1. Proposed

    Mar 27, 2026

  2. Final rule

    None in our archive

What the document says

The Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) is issuing this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to solicit comments and public input regarding its proposal to revise Employment and Training Administration (ETA) regulations governing the prevailing wages for employment opportunities that United States (U.S.) employers seek to fill with alien workers on a permanent or temporary basis through certain EB-2 and EB-3 employment-based immigrant visas via the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program or through H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3 nonimmigrant visas. Specifically, DOL is proposing to amend its regulations governing the PERM program and Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) to incorporate changes to the computation of wage levels under the Department's four-tiered prevailing wage structure based on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage survey administered by the Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These proposed revisions aim to better align prevailing wage levels with the wages paid to U.S. workers who are similarly employed in the occupation and area of intended employment. The Department's proposed revisions also seek to strengthen program integrity by reducing the incentive for employers to use these programs to replace, rather than supplement, U.S. workers by employing lower-paid alien workers. In addition, the revision would enable the Department to more effectively ensure that the employment of immigrant and nonimmigrant workers admitted or otherwise provided one of the covered statuses does not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers.

Who the document names

Visa categories

EB-3 third preference, H-1B specialty occupation, H-2B temporary non-agricultural, EB-2 second preference

Where the document says this
  • EB-3 third preference: “The Department is not expressing a view on the substantive equivalence of these qualifications outside of that regulatory framework. Id. Id. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The EB-3 program consists of three discrete classifications: ``skilled worker,'' defined as…”
  • H-1B specialty occupation: “The H-1B1 classification applies to alien workers in specialty occupations from Chile and Singapore, while the E-3 visa classification applies to alien workers in specialty occupations from Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- See 8 U.S.C. 1184(i)(1)(A)-(B).…”
  • H-2B temporary non-agricultural: “…1182(p)(4). Wage Methodology for the Temporary Non-Agricultural Employment H-2B Program, 80 FR at 24159. 8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(4)(A). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because the wage methodology will, by statute, be used to establish the prevailing wage for the H-1B…”
  • EB-2 second preference: “The same reasons for discounting a portion of the workers at the bottom of the OEWS wage distribution in order to compute appropriate entry-level wages, based on the fact that such workers are not similarly employed to even the least skilled H-1B workers, also applies to the wages for the EB-2 immigrant visa…”

A requirement the document states

“The INA provides for five ``preference'' categories, or immigrant visa classes, only two of which--the second and third preference employment categories (commonly called the EB-2 and EB-3 immigrant visa classifications)--generally require a labor certification. An employer seeking to sponsor an alien worker for an immigrant visa under the EB-2 or EB-3 preference categories generally must file…”

This list may be incomplete; the document may name others. Whether it applies to a particular person depends on facts this record does not have.

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H-1B specialty occupation data →

Annual dates, shown for context. This document does not set them.

Related changes

Proposed ruleProposed Aug 25, 2026

Fee for Certain H-1B Petitions

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to establish a $103,265 fee, payable at the time of filing, for all H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, which would be imposed in addition to all other applicable fees or payments. This fee would serve as a dedicated revenue mechanism to help recover a portion of the federal government's costs of administering the lawful immigration system, including activities carried out by DHS, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of State (DOS), and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

Federal Register ↗
Agency announcementPublished Aug 24, 2026

DHS Proposes Additional H-1B Fee

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing to establish a $103,265 fee for all H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption.

USCIS newsroom ↗
Final ruleStated effective date Sep 9, 2026

9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee for H-1B and L-1 Visas

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is amending the regulations concerning the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee for certain H-1B and L-1 Visas (9-11 Biometric Fee). The regulatory changes correct DHS's interpretation of statutory language to require that covered employers submit the 9-11 Biometric Fee for all extension of status petitions, regardless of whether the related fraud prevention and detection fee applies, which includes extension of status petitions that do not involve a change of employer. The 9-11 Biometric Fee continues to apply unchanged to petitions seeking an initial grant of status. The changes also help DHS comply with its congressional mandate to implement a biometric entry-exit system.

Federal Register ↗Changes requirements

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About this record

Source
Federal Register, checked Aug 2, 2026
Review
Classified automatically; not reviewed by a person

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