A Republican lawmaker has introduced a sweeping bill in the US House of Representatives, seeking to overhaul the H-1B visa programme. The proposed legislation includes tougher hiring requirements, higher wage thresholds, and restrictions that could significantly affect Indian technology professionals.
Key Provisions of the Bill
This bill stands out from several others recently introduced to repeal or reform the H-1B programme. The most controversial provision requires H-1B applicants to maintain a residence abroad with 'no intention of abandoning it.' According to immigration experts, this terminology eliminates the long-standing 'dual intent' framework that allows H-1B holders to pursue permanent residency (green card) while working in the United States.
"The practical takeaway is simple: the traditional H-1B to green card pathway would become arguably impossible under the bill, as it is currently drafted," said an immigration expert attached to a global conglomerate.
Dual Intent Under Threat
A recent policy memo, pushing foreigners to process green card applications from their home country via consular processing rather than through adjustment of status (AOS) from within the US, also recognised the dual intent of H-1B visas. A May 24 report noted that this memo did not abolish AOS for holders of dual-intent visas such as H-1B and L visas. Instead, it created a more discretionary adjudication framework under which officers may require such applicants to demonstrate why they merit adjustment of status from within the US.
However, the bill titled the 'American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act of 2026', introduced by Texas Congressman Chip Roy, abolishes this dual intent. "For nearly four decades, the H-1B visa programme has been abused, allowing employers to routinely sideline American STEM workers in favour of cheap foreign labour while masking layoffs and wage suppression as labour shortages. It is time to end this lottery-based pipeline and replace it with a system that prioritises merit, enforces meaningful wage standards, and puts American white-collar workers first," Roy said in his statement.
Higher Wages and Restrictions
The bill would also require employers to pay H-1B workers either the actual wage paid to similarly qualified employees or a wage determined by the Department of Labor at the 75th percentile for that occupation and location, whichever is higher. In addition, employers seeking to hire H-1B workers would have to certify that qualified US workers are unavailable, advertise jobs on a government-run platform, and offer positions to equally or better-qualified American candidates before sponsoring a foreign worker.
The proposal would cap the share of non-immigrant workers at 5% of a company's US workforce and prohibit employers from laying off US workers in the same job classification within one year of filing an H-1B application. The bill also seeks to reduce the maximum H-1B duration from six years to two years and would allocate visas based on salary levels rather than through the current lottery system.
Impact on Indian Professionals
India is by far the largest beneficiary of the H-1B programme, accounting for the overwhelming majority of approved applications in recent years. According to the latest data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Indian nationals remained the dominant beneficiaries of the H-1B programme in FY 2024, accounting for 2.83 lakh of the nearly 4 lakh approved new visas (or 71% of the total). Further, with more than 12.6 lakh Indians, including dependants, waiting in employment-based green card categories, the bill, if passed, could quash the American dream.
However, with Republicans and Democrats sharply divided over immigration policy, the bill is likely to face a challenging legislative path and may not be enacted, state immigration experts.
