USA19 September, 20263 min read
Donald Trump Orders H-1B Scrutiny For Employers With US Layoffs, Extends $100,000 Fee
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Extends the $100,000 H-1B filing fee for another year, through Sept 21, 2027. Signs order directing agencies to scrutinize H-1B petitions from employers with layoffs.
7 outlets told this the same way.
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Layoffs Meet H-1B Scrutiny
President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing US agencies to scrutinize H-1B visa applications from employers that have laid off American workers or are planning layoffs that could affect similarly situated US employees. The order requires the Departments of State, Labor and Homeland Security to consider whether an H-1B sponsoring employer has carried out layoffs during the previous year or has plans for future layoffs, and it directs the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division to begin within 30 days reviewing data connected to previously submitted labor condition applications. The White House said the move is intended to strengthen the integrity of the H-1B program and protect American workers, while the order alleges that some employers, third-party placement groups and outsourcing companies have used the H-1B system to obtain lower-paid foreign workers and displace US employees.
“The order does not say that layoffs by themselves will automatically result in rejection.”
The administration cited technology-sector layoffs and said employers in the sector had collectively sought hundreds of thousands of H-1B workers while laying off between 800,000 and 1.3 million American employees from 2022 through 2026. The executive order does not announce a blanket ban, instead instructing federal agencies to take those layoffs and planned layoffs into account when processing H-1B-related applications, petitions, visas and entries.
Interagency Coordination, New Fee
The executive order and a separate proclamation were signed on September 18, with the proclamation extending the $100,000 payment requirement for certain H-1B petitions through September 21, 2027. The Open Magazine reported that the executive order requires the Departments of State, Labour and Homeland Security to consider an employer’s recent or planned layoffs of “similarly situated” US workers when reviewing H-1B applications, and it said the supplied fact sheet does not describe an automatic rejection of applications from those employers. The White House fact sheet quoted by Open Magazine said, “More work must be done to improve interagency coordination in the assessment of H-1B visa petitions,” as the three departments were directed to consult the Commerce and Education secretaries and the Small Business Administration.
Pragativadi said the $100,000 payment requirement is tied up in legal challenges, noting that a federal district court had ruled against the fee and that the US government has appealed, with Reuters reporting the dispute remains under consideration by a Boston appeals court. The Statesman quoted Trump in the order saying, “I have determined that continued efforts must be made to protect and prioritize the American workforce,” while also describing exemptions where the Homeland Security Secretary determines hiring is in the national interest and does not threaten US security or welfare.
What’s at Stake Next
The new measures are presented as a shift in how H-1B cases are assessed, with the executive order directing agencies to consider whether a sponsor directly or indirectly carried out layoffs in the previous year or plans cuts that would hurt similarly situated US workers. Hindustan Times said the order expands scrutiny of employers using the H-1B program and calls for greater coordination among the Departments of Labor, Homeland Security, State, Commerce and Education, as well as the Small Business Administration. The Open Magazine reported that the White House alleged some companies had dismissed highly qualified American employees before recruiting H-1B workers at lower wages, and it said the administration argued that access to lower-paid foreign labour could depress domestic wages.
Open Magazine also cited the White House’s claim that “Since the 2025 Proclamation took effect, H-1B registrations filed by the largest IT outsourcing firms have been reduced by 92%,” and it reported a nearly 97 per cent decline in consular processing requests. Bloomberg Línea said the extension remains subject to judicial resolution and noted that a federal judge in Massachusetts struck down in June the government's guidelines for implementing it, while the administration has appealed, keeping the practical application of the renewed requirement tied to court outcomes.