Executive order on H-1B nonimmigrant visa administration

The document asserts that the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program, created to bring uniquely skilled temporary workers to the United States, has been widely abused by employers, third‑party placement groups, and outsourcing firms to displace U.S. workers, depress wages, and offshore jobs. It cites an estimated H-1B wage gap of $9,000 to $20,000 versus comparable U.S. workers, alleges that technology employers requested hundreds of thousands of H-1B slots while laying off roughly 800,000-1.3 million American employees from 2022-2026, and notes that major outsourcing users accounted for over 25,000 cap registrations in FY2026. The material further frames systematic program abuse as a national security risk, pointing to law‑enforcement probes for visa fraud and money‑laundering, the use of diploma mills to misrepresent qualifications, and the deterrent effect on American STEM careers.

To address these problems, the directive requires tighter interagency coordination: the Secretaries of State, Labor, and Homeland Security must consult with Commerce, Education, and the SBA and use their wage, employment, academic, and industry data when adjudicating H-1B petitions and labor condition applications, with explicit reference to INA provisions (including sections 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), 212(n), 214(i), and 274B). Adjudicators must consider employer layoffs in the prior year or planned layoffs that harm similarly situated U.S. workers; Labor must review past labor condition applications within 30 days to determine enforcement under section 212(n)(2)(G); and certain presidential authorities under INA 215(a) are delegated to agency heads to implement rules and guidance, subject to law, appropriations, and existing agency authorities.