US Lawmakers Push To Tighten H-1B, L-1 System: How It Will Impact Indian Visa Holders

Last Updated:October 01, 2025, 14:28 IST

Indians dominate the H-1B programme with 71-73 per cent of all approvals in recent years. The legislation introduces stricter wage, recruitment rules and penalties for violations

India's response came after the US imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa holders. (Representative image)

In a step that could majorly impact Indians, Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday reintroduced a legislation to tighten rules on the H-1B and L-1 worker visa programmes, Reuters reported.

The legislation targeted what they called loopholes and abuse by major employers, said the report.

Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, and Democratic ranking member Dick Durbin of Illinois, said the bill tightens rules by raising wage and hiring standards, mandating public job postings, and narrowing visa eligibility, among others, according to Reuters.

“Major companies are laying off thousands of American workers while filing thousands of visa petitions for foreign workers at depressed wages and poor working conditions," Durbin said.

What is H-1B, L-1 visa programme?

The H-1B visa programme, used by the U.S. technology sector to hire skilled workers from India and China, has been under the spotlight after the Trump administration earlier this month imposed a $100,000 fee on new applications. The new fee requirement will not apply to current visa holders. The administration claims the move will protect American jobs and ensure only the “most skilled" foreign workers enter.

Indians dominate the H-1B programme with roughly 71-73 per cent of all approvals in recent years. In FY 2023, India received 191,000 H-1B visas; in FY 2024, that rose to about 207,000.

The L-1 visa allows multinational companies to transfer existing employees from overseas offices to the U.S.

How will the new legislation impact Indian workers?

The legislation introduces stricter wage and recruitment rules, with priority for H-1B visas for workers who hold STEM degrees. It imposes stricter penalties for violations, said reports.

It will strain US companies financially, making it less viable for them to hire foreign workers.

“These changes would increase compliance requirements and likely make H-1B hiring more expensive, particularly for companies that have relied on lower wage levels or contract-based staffing. For L-1 visas, which are used for transferring employees within multinational companies, the bill closes existing gaps by limiting outplacement, raising oversight standards, and adding wage and displacement safeguards," Hindustan Times quoted Nicole Gunara, Principal Immigration Attorney at Manifest Law as saying.

Project Firewall, H1-B lottery overhaul

The US Department of Labour has also announced the launch of ‘Project Firewall’, an H-1B enforcement initiative aimed at safeguarding the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers.

Signalling “a significant number of changes" in the H-1B process before February 2026, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick questioned the lottery system in place to acquire this work visa. Lutnick said he recently had a conversation with heads of two of the biggest tech companies in the world, and “they said doing a lottery for skilled workers coming into America is bizarre".

He questioned why a nation should bring in skilled workers through a lottery. “That just doesn’t make any sense," he said. “This procedure and process goes into effect in February of 2026, so my guess is going to be, there are going to be a significant number of changes between now and 2026," he said in an interview with NewsNation.

With Reuters Inputs

News explainers US Lawmakers Push To Tighten H-1B, L-1 System: How It Will Impact Indian Visa Holders

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