Washington, DC (US), September 19, 2026, BNN Web Staff: The Trump administration has announced tighter scrutiny of the H-1B visa programme, including additional checks on employers that have recently laid off, or plan to lay off, US workers in comparable positions.
The administration has also renewed a USD 100,000 fee requirement for certain H-1B visa petitions, a measure initially introduced in September 2025.
According to a White House fact sheet, US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order and a Proclamation on Friday aimed at strengthening oversight of the H-1B programme and increasing coordination among federal agencies.
Under the Executive Order, the Secretaries of State, Labour and Homeland Security have been directed to take an employer’s recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated US workers into account when assessing H-1B applications.
The three departments have also been asked to consult the Commerce Department, Education Department and Small Business Administration to obtain additional information relevant to H-1B administration, including data on wages, industry conditions and employment specialisation.
Separately, the Proclamation renews the USD 100,000 fee for certain H-1B applications. The White House said the measure is intended to discourage practices that it says displace US workers and raise national security concerns.
The administration cited its assessment of the previous measure, claiming that H-1B registrations by some of the largest IT outsourcing companies fell by 92 per cent after the 2025 proclamation took effect.
The White House also said consular processing requests declined by nearly 97 per cent, while the composition of H-1B workers shifted towards what it described as higher-skilled and higher-paid foreign workers.
The administration has argued that the use of lower-paid foreign labour can put downward pressure on wages for US skilled workers. It also alleged that some employers had laid off American workers before subsequently hiring H-1B workers.
The White House further raised concerns over outsourcing arrangements, saying that some jobs filled by H-1B workers could eventually be moved outside the United States.
As part of its case for tighter oversight, the administration cited unemployment rates among recent computer science and computer engineering graduates, which it said stood at 6.1 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively, before the 2025 proclamation.
The fact sheet also highlighted changes to the H-1B selection process. A December 2025 rule replaced the previous randomised lottery with a wage-weighted selection system. According to the White House, fiscal year 2027 is the first year in which H-1B selections have been determined based on wage levels rather than a random lottery, while registrations declined by nearly 40 per cent.
The latest measures are part of the administration’s broader immigration and workforce policies. The White House also cited job creation, manufacturing growth and workforce initiatives as evidence of its economic agenda.
The administration said it is continuing to investigate suspected H-1B visa fraud and other practices it believes may unlawfully disadvantage US workers.
The latest steps place greater emphasis on employer layoffs, interagency information-sharing and higher fees as the Trump administration seeks to tighten oversight of the H-1B programme.
