Last October I wrote about the Supreme Court declining to hear Save Jobs USA v. DHS, and I said at the time that the decision did nothing to stop a future administration from revisiting the program through new regulatory action. That is exactly what is now happening. DHS has placed a rule on the Unified...
H-1B Specialty Occupation & H-4 Dependent visas
A rule effective January 17, 2025, changed what’s possible for entrepreneurs and business owners pursuing an H-1B visa. It allows H-1B beneficiaries to self-petition even when they hold a controlling interest in the petitioning entity. For founders and beneficiary-owned businesses, that opened a real path forward. But this path comes with specific documentation requirements. This...
Just when employers thought they had a handle on the $100,000 H-1B fee, the litigation took another turn. On July 24, 2026, the First Circuit Court of Appeals declined to let the government reinstate the fee while its appeal plays out. A quick recap We’ve been tracking this fee since before it even took effect....
In a long-awaited decision, a federal judge has declared the Trump administration’s attempt to impose a $100k fee on certain H-1B workers to be unlawful. Last September, the immigration community was shell-shocked when the Trump administration announced a $100k fee applicable to certain H-1B workers. Practitioners, employers, and employees initially scrambled to understand what the...
H-1B Wage Compliance, Benching, Unpaid Leave and the Cost of Getting It Wrong By Chris Prescott | PSBP Law | April 29, 2026 Most companies that sponsor H-1B workers think of the Labor Condition Application (“LCA”) as a piece of paperwork. They sign it, post it, file it with USCIS, and move on. Then a...
What Rep. Eli Crane’s Proposal Would Do, How It Compares to Existing Law, and What Employers, Workers, and Families Should — and Should Not — Do Right Now By Chris Prescott | PSBP Law | April 27, 2026 READ THIS FIRST. The End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026 is a BILL that has been...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has indicated an intent to revise the prevailing-wage framework. On March 26, 2026, DOL issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that, if finalized as proposed, would significantly increase prevailing wage levels. The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2026, with comments due in 60...
Requests for further Evidence, commonly known as RFEs are another obstacle in obtaining an approval across almost all immigration petitions, especially in the context of H-1Bs. Now that final selections have been made under the H-1B lottery, employers will be filing cap- subject petitions over the next 3 months (April 1 through June 30). During...