US Department of Labor issues proposed rule revising prevailing wage methodology for H-1B, PERM visa programs

News Release

US Department of Labor issues proposed rule revising prevailing wage methodology for H-1B, PERM visa programs

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration today issued a proposed rule designed to protect the wages and job opportunities of American workers by stripping away the ability of employers to pay substandard wages to foreign workers in certain visa programs.

The proposed rule would modernize the existing methodology for determining prevailing wage levels in the permanent labor certification, H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3visa programs. The updated methodology would use statistically grounded percentile thresholds derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics surveyto bring the wages paid to foreign workers in line with wages paid to similarly employed American workers. This much-needed change aims to curb abuse of certain visa programs by reducing the incentive to displace American workers with low-wage foreign visa holders and establishing parity between the wages paid to U.S. workers and foreign workers entering the country on certain employment-based visas.

Existing prevailing wage levels have, for too long, been set dramatically below the market rates which many American workers receive, particularly entry-level Americans and recent college graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Because of this, the H-1B program has been distorted by hiring practices that abuse the program to replace their existing American workforce with cheap foreign labor.

"The Trump Administration is committed to ensuring that American workers are not disadvantaged by unfair wage practices," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. "This proposed rule will help ensure that employers pay foreign workers wages that reflect the real market value of their labor, in addition to protecting the wages and job opportunities of American workers. The continued abuse of the H-1B program by certain bad actors will no longer be tolerated."

Under current law, U.S. employers seeking to hire temporary foreign workers through the H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3 visa programs must pay foreign workers the higher of the prevailing wage for the area of intended employment or the actual wage rate paid to similarly qualified U.S. workers in the area of intended employment. For employers seeking to hire foreign workers permanently through the permanent labor certification program, employers are required to offer and pay foreign workers at least the prevailing wage for the job opportunity in the area of intended employment. This prevailing wage serves effectively as a wage floor, and an employer must attest that they are offering at least the prevailing wage at the time of filing, that the wage offered during recruitment is at least the prevailing wage, and that the employer will actually pay at least the prevailing wage when a foreign worker begins their employment.

By seeking to implement these proposed changes, the Department of Labor aspires to improve the correlation between wages paid to foreign workers and those paid to American workers with similar skills and qualifications, reduce the economic incentives to underpay foreign workers and undermine the American workforce, and promote fair competition in the American labor market.

Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after publication in the March 27, 2026, edition of the Federal Register. Additional information and technical assistance materials will be available on ETA's Office of Foreign Labor Certification page.

Read ETA's notice of proposed rulemaking on prevailing wages for certain visa programs.