In the last two weeks of President Trump’s term, the outgoing administration issued several final rules impacting the H-1B visa program. Briefly, one would replace the current visa lottery system with a wage-based priority system, one would increase the wages that must be paid to H-1B beneficiaries, and the last would address whether an employer-employee relationship exists between the H-1B worker and his or her employer. All three of the rules are consistent with the Trump Administration’s efforts to reform the H-1B visa process to eliminate alleged abuses.
Because all three of these rules have effective dates occurring after the Biden Administration assumed office, however, they are subject to President Biden’s January 20 “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” memorandum, and, as explained in more detail below, may never go into effect.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.