U.S. Immigration Alerts

Trump Administration Issues Executive Order That Expands Oversight of H-1B Program

On September 18, 2026, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order and a separate presidential proclamation that further tighten oversight of the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. The Executive Order directs the Departments of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to coordinate with the Departments of Commerce and Education and the Small Business Administration to obtain additional wage, employment, academic, industrial, and economic information when administering the H-1B program. At the same time, the accompanying proclamation extends through September 21, 2027, the restriction requiring a $100,000 payment for certain H-1B visa cases, subject to limited exceptions; the payment requirement remains the subject of ongoing federal litigation.

Key Points

• $100,000 Payment Requirement Extended: The separate presidential proclamation extends the H-1B entry restriction and associated $100,000 payment requirement for another year, through 12:00 a.m. Eastern time on September 21, 2027. Reuters reports that the requirement remains subject to legal challenges, including an appeal involving a federal court decision that found the fee unlawful and blocked its collection.
• Expanded Interagency Coordination: The Executive Order requires the Departments of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to consult with Commerce, Education, and the Small Business Administration when processing H-1B labor condition applications, petitions, visas, and entries. The additional agencies are directed to provide relevant information concerning wages, employment, academic qualifications, industrial conditions, and other economic factors.
• Greater Scrutiny of Employer Layoffs: Federal agencies are directed to consider whether an H-1B sponsoring employer has directly or indirectly conducted layoffs of similarly situated U.S. workers during the preceding year or plans future layoffs affecting those workers. This consideration applies across the processing of labor condition applications, H-1B petitions, visa applications, and requests for admission.
• Review of Previously Filed Labor Condition Applications: Within 30 days of the Executive Order, the Department of Labor is directed to begin reviewing data associated with previously submitted labor condition applications to determine whether additional action against sponsoring employers may be warranted under the H-1B labor-condition provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This creates a specific mechanism for the government to use historical LCA data as part of its enhanced compliance efforts.
• Data-Driven Oversight: A primary focus of this directive is the collection of additional, granular data related to the H-1B program. Targeted information includes detailed statistics on wages, prevailing industrial conditions, and specific employment specializations.

What Employers Need to Know

• Budget for the $100,000 Payment Where Applicable: Employers considering H-1B sponsorship for workers who may be subject to the entry restriction should continue to account for the $100,000 payment in immigration and workforce planning. However, the scope of the requirement and any applicable exceptions should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, particularly because the payment requirement remains under judicial review.
• Document Workforce Changes Carefully: Employers should maintain accurate records concerning layoffs, reorganizations, reductions in force, hiring, and the employment of similarly situated U.S. workers. Because the Executive Order specifically directs agencies to consider recent or planned layoffs involving similarly situated U.S. workers, employers should be prepared to explain the relationship, if any, between workforce reductions and proposed H-1B employment.
• Strengthen LCA and H-1B Documentation: Employers should review wage data, job duties, occupational classifications, work locations, and other information supporting H-1B filings for consistency and accuracy. The expanded interagency framework increases the amount of information that may be available to agencies when assessing whether an H-1B filing complies with statutory requirements.
• Monitor Existing H-1B Compliance: Employers should not limit compliance reviews to new H-1B filings. The Department of Labor’s directed review of previously submitted LCAs means that historical filings and the underlying employment practices may receive additional attention, particularly where wage, job-duty, or workforce information has changed.

Looking Ahead

• Broader Enforcement and Compliance Review: The Executive Order establishes a framework for agencies to combine information that previously may have been maintained across separate departments, including wage, employment, academic, and industry data. This could give federal agencies a more comprehensive basis for identifying H-1B cases that warrant additional scrutiny and for determining whether an employer’s labor-condition practices comply with existing requirements.
• Layoffs May Become an Increasingly Important H-1B Issue: The explicit direction to consider an employer’s recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated U.S. workers adds a new factor to the administration’s H-1B oversight framework. Employers with significant workforce reductions should expect greater attention to the timing of those reductions, the positions affected, and the business rationale for subsequently seeking H-1B workers in related roles.
• Potential Follow-On Regulatory Action: The Executive Order authorizes the relevant agencies to issue or adopt rules, policies, operational guidance, or other guidance needed to implement the order, while the Department of Labor has separately been pursuing changes to prevailing wage requirements. Taken together with the administration’s FY 2027 weighted H-1B selection system, the extended $100,000 payment requirement, and the new interagency review process, these actions indicate that employers should continue to monitor both regulatory developments and agency implementation guidance rather than treating the September 18 actions as isolated changes.
• The H-1B Program Is Moving Toward Greater Employer-Specific Scrutiny: The administration has reported significant changes in H-1B filing patterns since the 2025 proclamation, including a 92% reduction in registrations from the largest IT staffing and outsourcing firms and a nearly 97% decrease in consular-processing requests. Regardless of how those changes are ultimately assessed, the September 2026 actions make clear that employer practices, wage levels, workforce changes, and the characteristics of sponsored positions will remain important components of H-1B administration.

In summary, the September 18, 2026, actions represent two related but distinct developments in H-1B policy: the Executive Order expands interagency coordination and directs agencies to examine employer layoffs, historical LCAs, wages, and other employment data, while the accompanying proclamation extends the $100,000 payment requirement for certain H-1B cases through September 21, 2027. For employers, the practical significance extends beyond the cost of the payment itself; the government is establishing a broader information-sharing and compliance framework that may affect how H-1B petitions, LCAs, visa applications, and requests for admission are evaluated. Employers should therefore continue monitoring litigation over the $100,000 payment requirement while strengthening documentation concerning wages, job duties, workforce reductions, and the business need for H-1B workers.

The content of this article is intended only to provide a general guide to the subject matter. It should not be construed as legal advice. Please contact FGI at info@employmentimmigration.com or (+1) 248.643.4900 for guidance if you have specific questions.