Extend Requirements for H-1B Dependent Employers 

To prevent employers’ overuse of H-1B visas, current law imposes additional requirements on employers deemed H-1B-dependent (for example, companies with 51 or more employees where 15 percent or more hold H-1B visas). This proposal would extend those requirements to businesses currently exempt.

Technically, an H-1B dependent employer under current law must:

  • Attest that the new H-1B worker is not displacing a US worker.
  • Not displace any current native worker in their workforce performing an equivalent position for 90 days before and after the H-1B petition was filed.
  • Make a good-faith effort to recruit native workers for the position before hiring an H-1B worker.

In practice, these restrictions often don’t apply because of an exemption passed in 1998 and never updated. The 1998 provision exempts H-1B dependent employers from the requirements if they pay the foreign worker at least $60,000 or if the worker holds a master’s degree.

The main provisions to extend requirements focus on the salary and education exemptions. One proposal would eliminate the salary and education requirement entirely so that the requirements apply to all H-1B dependent employers. Another approach is to raise the salary threshold for exemption from those requirements to over $100,000 and index it to inflation.

The H-1B Dependent Employer reforms would also give DOL greater enforcement power.

The Case For 

Supporters observe that the outdated $60,000 would be $120,000 in today’s dollars. They argue that a threshold that is half of what it was intended to be has fundamentally corrupted the H-1B program, transforming it from a tool to fill critical, specialized talent shortages into a massive, legalized way for firms to reduce labor costs with foreign workers. Advocates argue that these reforms will protect attractive jobs for professional, middle-class Americans. They also contend that the reforms will ensure that we only bring in foreign workers when qualified Americans genuinely can’t be found for these prime jobs.

The Case Against

Opponents argue that these reforms fundamentally misunderstand the modern, project-based nature of the IT consulting and services economy that use H-1B visa holders extensively. They warn that either eliminating the exemptions entirely or dramatically increasing the salary thresholds, while simultaneously increasing DOL audits, will make it prohibitively difficult to access scalable global talent. They also argue that it will not actually save or protect American tech jobs. Instead, they argue that it will create a massive movement of these jobs overseas.