 "A new US bill to replace H-1B lottery system? What it means for Indian workers and Big Tech")
Alongside the L-1 visa scheme, which allows multinational companies to transfer employees into American offices, the H-1B visa programme has served as one of the most important pathways for skilled foreign workers to contribute to the American economy for decades.
Now, a series of fresh legislative proposals in the United States are placing these programmes under the lens.
Bipartisan lawmakers are seeking to restrict perceived loopholes, the Trump administration has introduced an unprecedented $100,000 application fee, and new bills have been unveiled to completely replace the current lottery-based allocation system.
With Indian professionals representing the largest share of H-1B visa holders, and US tech giants depending heavily on them, these proposals carry sweeping implications both at home and abroad.
Bipartisan Senators revive H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act
On Monday, Chuck Grassley, Republican Senator from Iowa and Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with Dick Durbin, Democratic Senator from Illinois and the ranking member, reintroduced a bill that would make wide-ranging changes to the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes.
The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act was originally introduced in 2007 but has repeatedly stalled.
Its latest reintroduction comes at a time of heightened debate over foreign labour. According to the senators, the bill is intended to curb “fraud and abuse” in the visa system while ensuring that companies use these visas only when American workers are not available.
“Congress created the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes as limited pathways for businesses to acquire top talent when it can’t be found at home.
But over the years, many employers have used them to cut out American workers in favour of cheap foreign labour,” Grassley said.
NEW Sen Durbin & I just reintrod our bipartisan bill 2 reduce fraud/abuse in H1B & L1 visa programs + provide protections for American&foreign workers We hv been pushing reforms since 2007 Our legislation is needed now more than ever
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 29, 2025
Durbin, echoing this concern, stated, “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. Congress must step in to protect American workers and fix our broken immigration system. Senator Grassley and I will work to make this bipartisan bill the law of the land.”
The legislation is co-sponsored by lawmakers across the political spectrum, including Republican Tommy Tuberville, Democrat Richard Blumenthal, and Independent Bernie Sanders.
Provisions of the proposed reform
The proposed bill contains a series of strict new requirements for employers:
Wage and recruitment standards: Employers will have to raise wages paid to H-1B workers and show genuine efforts to hire American employees first.
Mandatory job postings: All jobs must be advertised on a public US Department of Labour website before being offered to H-1B applicants.
Revised eligibility: The definition of “specialty occupation” will be tightened to require at least a bachelor’s degree in the specific field.
STEM priority: Preference will be given to applicants with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Enforcement powers: The Labour Department will be authorised to collect fees to hire 200 enforcement staff to monitor compliance.
Restrictions on L-1 visas: The L-1 programme will face limits on “new office” petitions and stricter verification of foreign affiliates by the State Department.
Employers found violating wage rules could face financial penalties or even bans from filing new petitions.
Trump’s weighted lottery proposal
The legislative efforts are unfolding alongside a dramatic set of administrative moves. Earlier in September, President Donald Trump’s administration announced a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications — an enormous increase from the current fee of $215.
The White House justified the hike by claiming it would discourage “systemic” misuse of the visa programme.
Additionally, the US Department of Homeland Security has proposed abandoning the random lottery system traditionally used to allocate the 85,000 H-1B visas issued each year.
Instead, visas would be distributed using a weighted selection method tied to wage levels.
Workers in the highest of four wage categories would receive four entries in the draw.
Mid-level earners would receive fewer entries.
Those in the lowest wage bracket would receive only one.
This system is designed to favour highly paid workers, reducing the chance of selection for those at lower salary levels.
For example, a professional earning $162,528 annually would have four chances compared with one chance for a lower-paid applicant.
The US Department of Labour has also launched Operation Firewall, a new enforcement campaign aimed at detecting fraud and preventing misuse of the programme.
US lawmakers question Big Tech
In parallel with the legislative push, Senators Grassley and Durbin wrote letters to ten major employers — including Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Apple, Walmart, Deloitte, Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services, and Infosys — demanding detailed information on their use of H-1B visas.
The inquiry questioned the companies about the number of foreign workers they employ, wages paid, and whether these hires displaced American employees, reported the Wall Street Journal.
“With all of the homegrown American talent relegated to the sidelines, we find it hard to believe that Amazon cannot find qualified American tech workers to fill these positions,” the senators wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
The scrutiny comes at a time when major technology firms have simultaneously announced large-scale layoffs while continuing to request thousands of H-1B visas.
For example:
In the first half of 2025, Amazon and its cloud arm AWS received approval for over 12,000 H-1B visas.
Microsoft and Meta each had more than 5,000 H-1B approvals during the same period.
India was the biggest beneficiary of the H-1B programme in 2024, accounting for 71 per cent of approved petitions, followed by China at 11.7 per cent.
Jim Banks’ American Tech Workforce Act
While the Grassley-Durbin bill focuses on strengthening regulations, another proposal goes much further.
Republican Senator Jim Banks has introduced the American Tech Workforce Act, which seeks to dismantle key pillars of the current system.
The legislation would:
End the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme, which allows nearly half a million international graduates — many of them Indian — to work temporarily in the US after completing their studies.
Eliminate the lottery system for H-1B allocation and instead award visas to employers offering the highest salaries.
Raise the H-1B wage floor from $60,000 to at least $110,000, with a possible increase to $150,000, indexed to inflation.
Limit third-party placements by restricting the validity of H-1B visas to one year when employees are placed at client sites.
“This bill puts American workers first,” Banks said. “Corporations rigged the system to flood the country with cheap foreign labour and drive down wages.”
Banks and other supporters argue that these measures would close loopholes exploited by staffing firms and outsourcing companies, many of them operating from India, which often place workers in subcontracting roles.
Critics, however, warn that such drastic changes could disrupt the talent pipeline for industries such as technology, engineering, and research.
Other legislative initiatives
Beyond the major bills, other lawmakers have introduced additional proposals that target specific aspects of the visa system.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton, for example, has introduced legislation that would limit the ability of universities, research institutions, and non-profits to hire foreign workers.
“Colleges and universities shouldn’t get special treatment for bringing in woke and anti-American professors from around the world. My bill closes these loopholes that universities have abused for far too long,” Cotton said on his website.
Colleges and universities have abused H-1B loopholes to hire woke professors from around the world. That’s why I’ve introduced a bill to ensure no entity receives an exemption to the visa cap. https://t.co/8KhQAOsPca
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) September 30, 2025
Although separate from the core H-1B and L-1 reform bill, Cotton’s proposal reflects broader dissatisfaction among some legislators with how employment-based visas are utilised across different sectors.
Why Indian professionals have most to lose
No country has more at stake in this than India. According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Indian nationals receive more than 70 per cent of all H-1B approvals.
Companies such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro are among the largest sponsors of H-1B workers. These firms, along with US-based tech giants, rely heavily on skilled Indian professionals to staff projects in America.
The Indian government has acknowledged the potential impact of the proposed rules. The Ministry of External Affairs has pointed out that the movement of skilled workers contributes significantly to technological development and bilateral cooperation between India and the United States.
Officials have also noted that steep fee hikes and tighter restrictions could cause humanitarian problems by separating families and disrupting long-term residency plans.
The H-1B visa programme was originally introduced in 1990 to allow US employers to hire foreign professionals in speciality occupations for an initial three-year term, extendable to six years.
Since then, it has become integral to industries ranging from software development to healthcare. For many Indian workers, it has also served as a pathway to long-term residency and US citizenship.
With inputs from agencies
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