
How This Impacts Mobility
This ruling is good news for the workforce mobility industry, as the hiring of foreign nationals in the U.S. is one of the many bedrocks to workforce mobility. These new rules would severely restrict companies’ ability to hire high-skilled foreign talent by imposing additional restrictive criteria and raising the wage of H-1B applicants. The two rules would put companies in a difficult position, requiring them to pay foreign national workers more than their U.S. workers in order to fill key positions.
While this is a positive step for workforce mobility, an additional federal rule is in process that aims to further tighten the H-1B process. Under a new rule from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the USCIS will prioritize the selection of H-1B cases based on the highest wage levels established under the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes within the subject area of employment. The proposed rule change severely limits the amount of high-skilled foreign talent U.S.-based employers can hire. Worldwide ERC® filed a comment on the wage-based rule, requesting that the USCIS delay its implementation of the rule until Fiscal Year 2023 H-1B cap season.
Should any member have questions regarding the IFRs from the DHS and DOL and this recent court decision, or questions regarding the new rule from the USCIS and the comment filed by Worldwide ERC®, please reach out to Vice President of Member Engagement and Public Policy Rebecca Peters, rpeters@worldwideerc.org.