The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) quietly released a draft regulation on April 20 that would raise the mandatory prevailing wages employers must pay H-1B specialty-occupation workers. The proposal, published for pre-rule input, would shift all four wage levels upward by roughly 15-20 percentile points—Level 1 would jump from the 17th to the 34th percentile of Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, while Level 4 would leap from the 67th to the 88th percentile. If finalized, the rule would revive elements of the Trump-era 2020 interim regulation that was blocked in court for procedural defects. This time DOL is following the formal notice-and-comment process, making a legal challenge more difficult. Immigration attorneys note that the increases would effectively eliminate many entry-level H-1B roles in lower-cost markets and force companies to reshape salary budgets, especially in STEM, healthcare, and higher education. For multinational employers the stakes are high. Higher wage floors would ripple through internal equity structures, complicate global cost-of-labor models, and could reduce intracompany transfers that rely on H-1B status downstream. Some companies may pivot to near-shore hubs in Canada or Mexico, or expand use of remote work abroad, to balance labor costs. Universities warn that post-doctoral research positions—which already operate on thin grant funding—could become unsustainable.
![Labor Department Floats Major H-1B Prevailing-Wage Hike]()
Whether you are an employer navigating the new wage tiers or an individual professional seeking clarity on your next visa move, VisaHQ can streamline the process with up-to-date guidance, document checklists, and application support; visit https://www.visahq.com/united-states/ to see how their platform keeps pace with shifting U.S. immigration rules and offers practical solutions across a spectrum of work-visa categories.
The draft will undergo a 60-day public-comment period once formally published in the Federal Register. Employers should begin modeling salary impacts across job families, identify roles that may no longer meet the higher thresholds, and prepare advocacy comments supported by labor-market data. They should also monitor for potential grandfathering provisions or phased implementation that could mitigate short-term disruption. Because wage determinations underpin not only H-1B petitions but also the PERM green-card process, the rule would have long-tail implications for permanent immigration strategies. Companies that filed PERM cases based on current wages may face Requests for Evidence if the new rule is enacted before certification.
Whether you are an employer navigating the new wage tiers or an individual professional seeking clarity on your next visa move, VisaHQ can streamline the process with up-to-date guidance, document checklists, and application support; visit https://www.visahq.com/united-states/ to see how their platform keeps pace with shifting U.S. immigration rules and offers practical solutions across a spectrum of work-visa categories.
The draft will undergo a 60-day public-comment period once formally published in the Federal Register. Employers should begin modeling salary impacts across job families, identify roles that may no longer meet the higher thresholds, and prepare advocacy comments supported by labor-market data. They should also monitor for potential grandfathering provisions or phased implementation that could mitigate short-term disruption. Because wage determinations underpin not only H-1B petitions but also the PERM green-card process, the rule would have long-tail implications for permanent immigration strategies. Companies that filed PERM cases based on current wages may face Requests for Evidence if the new rule is enacted before certification.
