Washington, September 19, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
US President Donald Trump has renewed a $100,000 fee for certain H-1B visa applications and ordered federal agencies to scrutinise sponsoring employers over layoffs of American workers.
The measures combine the fee requirement with tighter checks on employment practices by companies seeking to hire skilled foreign workers through the H-1B programme.
Under an executive order, the secretaries of state, labour and homeland security have been directed to consider whether employers have carried out layoffs affecting similarly situated US workers during the previous year or are planning such job cuts. The requirement applies to labour condition applications, H-1B petitions, visa applications and requests for admission to the United States.
The order does not mandate automatic rejection of an H-1B application simply because an employer has announced layoffs.
“I have determined that continued efforts must be made to protect and prioritize the American workforce,” Trump said in the order.
Separately, the White House said a presidential proclamation had renewed the $100,000 fee requirement first imposed on September 19, 2025. Its fact sheet said the charge applies to certain H-1B applications but did not specify how long the renewed requirement would remain in effect or provide details of exemptions.
The executive order also gives the Labour Department 30 days to begin reviewing data from previously submitted labour condition applications. The review will examine whether further action against H-1B sponsoring employers is warranted.
The departments of state, labour and homeland security have also been directed to consult the Commerce and Education departments and the Small Business Administration while processing H-1B cases. These agencies will provide wage, employment, academic, industry and other economic information to assist in assessing compliance with statutory requirements.
The administration has presented the measures as a response to what it describes as the displacement of American workers and misuse of the H-1B programme by some employers and outsourcing companies.
The executive order alleges that technology employers collectively sought H-1B visas for hundreds of thousands of workers while laying off between 800,000 and 1.3 million American employees between 2022 and 2026. It also alleges that some employers misrepresented job duties, working conditions or applicants’ qualifications. The order and fact sheet did not include responses from employers or outsourcing firms to these allegations.
According to the White House, registrations submitted by the largest information technology outsourcing firms have fallen 92 per cent since the 2025 proclamation took effect, while consular processing requests declined by nearly 97 per cent.
The latest measures follow a December 2025 Department of Homeland Security rule that replaced the random H-1B selection process with a wage-level-weighted system. The White House said fiscal year 2027 was the first year in which the system was used and that registrations fell by nearly 40 per cent.
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