US: Under a new regulation, the targets suspected manipulation in the H-1B system.
US : government’s plan to change the way visas are chosen annually is mostly motivated by worries about misuse and manipulation of the H-1B visa system.
In a government letter this week, the Department of Homeland Security said that the modifications were necessary to maintain fairness in the cap-subject H-1B program and promote “process integrity.”
These new regulations include a number of behaviors, such as pay manipulation, contradictory work information, and submitting numerous registrations linked to related organizations, that the DHS claimed triggered red flags during previous filing cycles.
The DHS made a compelling argument, stating that the changes are intended to lessen the incentives for companies to manipulate the system and to guarantee that choices are based on genuine job offers rather than calculated applications.
The possibility of firms inflating pay on paper to increase selection chances was one issue raised in public comments. According to DHS, the regulation contains protections to deter this kind of conduct and encourage uniformity across registrations and completed petitions.
The department also highlighted the possibility of employment location manipulation. Some users cautioned that the system’s legitimacy is threatened if higher-paying places are listed during registration with the intention of placing workers somewhere afterward.
DHS said that it will concentrate on the correspondence between the data supplied in the complete petition and the information provided during registration, including employment locations, job descriptions, and pay scales.
According to the DHS, the use of several registrations for the same worker was another concern brought up. It was connected to companies submitting different registrations for a single beneficiary, which distorted selection results and undermined process confidence.
The final rule specifies penalties for false or deceptive submissions and strengthens certification standards. According to DHS, this is meant to discourage misuse and lessen needless demand on adjudication resources.
Several commenters cautioned that employers could strategically choose job codes to justify higher wages without demonstrating actual job duties, while the department addressed concerns about manipulation of job classifications under the Standard Occupational Classification system, according to the federal notification.
It stated that the rule is limited to modifications within current H-1B regulations and does not add new environmental, tribal, or federalism impacts requiring further review. The rule was designed to provide a clearer legal standard and reduce ambiguity, helping both employers and regulators understand compliance expectations.
According to the department, the new procedure would increase openness while maintaining access to highly qualified personnel.
Since there is still significantly more demand for visas than there are available, the H-1B program, which Congress caps each year, has been under constant investigation for fraud, fairness, and enforcement.
During delayed reforms on Capitol Hill, US immigration officials have increasingly turned to regulatory adjustments rather than legislation to solve systemic flaws.