- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton investigated thirty North Texas firms for alleged ghost office visa fraud.
- Stricter H-1B enforcement and return-to-office mandates triggered a homebuyer exodus from Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs.
- New USCIS weighted selection rules prioritize higher-salary applicants over entry-level technology workers in twenty twenty-six.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued civil investigative demands to 30 North Texas businesses on May 1, 2026, targeting alleged “ghost offices” tied to H-1B employment arrangements. The action has intensified pressure on visa holders who moved to fast-growing Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs during the remote-work boom.
Reports now describe an H-1B homebuyer exodus from communities including Frisco, Prosper and Celina. Some workers face layoffs, higher immigration costs or return-to-office orders that no longer fit their approved work locations. Others are selling homes and leaving the United States.
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The housing impact remains a reported market trend, not a government forecast. Indian-born workers accounted for 71% of H-1B approvals in 2024, and their concentration in North Texas suburbs helped fuel local housing demand during the area’s rapid growth.
Remote work changed the geography. Compliance rules are changing it again.
Paxton said his office would investigate companies that represented active operations in one location while their employees worked elsewhere. He framed the arrangements as a potential misuse of the visa program.
“I will not allow the H-1B program to be abused by bad actors seeking to use it as a loophole for allowing foreign nationals to invade Texas.”
The attorney general made the statement while seeking information from the businesses. The demands add a state-level investigation to federal scrutiny of employment locations and petition accuracy.
Return-to-office orders can trigger new H-1B filings
Under Matter of Simeio Solutions, an H-1B worker’s residence becomes an official worksite. A move outside the original Metropolitan Statistical Area can therefore require an amended H-1B petition.
That rule now collides with the decline of remote work. Employees who relocated to North Texas while working from home may face a choice between moving back, obtaining an amended petition or changing jobs. Their approved labor condition applications may not cover the new arrangement.
USCIS has increased site visits to employees’ homes in 2026 to check whether petition information matches actual working conditions. The scrutiny reaches beyond a company’s listed office.
Reports in June 2026 also said USCIS had begun issuing Notices to Appear to some H-1B holders shortly after employment termination. Those charging documents start removal proceedings. The reports said the agency sometimes issued them without honoring the traditional 60-day grace period.
Selection and fees are squeezing entry-level workers
USCIS replaced the random H-1B registration lottery with weighted selection effective February 27, 2026. The new process prioritizes applicants offered higher salaries, making selection harder for some entry-to-mid-level technology workers.
Matthew Tragesser, a USCIS spokesman, said the administration was pursuing a higher-wage approach in a November 13, 2025 statement:
“Unchecked mass migration floods the American labor market, depressing wages and taking jobs away from hardworking Americans, while straining healthcare, education, and housing systems. The Trump administration continues to execute policies to ensure legal immigration advances American interests first.”
Tragesser later addressed the selection change on December 23, 2025. He said employers had used the previous system to seek lower-wage foreign labor and described weighted selection as a way to favor higher-paid workers.
“The existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers. The new weighted selection will better serve Congress' intent. by incentivizing American employers to petition for higher-paid, higher-skilled foreign workers.”
A separate policy raised the financial risk. A September 2025 presidential proclamation mandated a $100,000 fee for certain H-1B petitions. A federal court temporarily vacated the guidance in June 2026.
On July 24, 2026, the First Circuit denied the government’s motion to stay that vacatur. The Department of Homeland Security said it “still plan to collect the payment” if the order is eventually lifted.
Texas agencies stopped new H-1B petitions
Governor Greg Abbott ordered an immediate freeze on new H-1B petitions by Texas state agencies and public universities on January 27, 2026. He said the state should reserve employment opportunities for Texans.
“State government must lead by example and ensure that employment opportunities. are filled by Texans first.”
The freeze does not itself govern private employers in Frisco, Prosper or Celina. Paxton’s investigative demands, however, reach North Texas businesses suspected of maintaining nominal offices that do not reflect where H-1B employees actually work.
Those investigations arrive as companies reduce remote arrangements. A worker hired for a listed office may now be ordered back to that location, while a worker living in another MSA may need an amended filing before continuing there.
Home sales reflect immigration risk as well as remote-work change
North Texas communities benefited from the arrival of Indian-born H-1B workers during the remote-work period. The same households now face several pressures at once: possible layoffs, stricter location checks, weighted selection and the prospect of much higher petition costs.
Some visa holders have chosen to sell and leave the United States. That decision removes both a potential buyer and a household from suburbs whose growth was partly linked to technology employment.
The term “digital nomads” has been applied to H-1B workers who moved to Texas while working remotely. H-1B status, however, remains tied to the employer’s petition and approved employment conditions, not simply to the worker’s ability to perform duties online.
Employers must keep petition locations accurate and assess whether a move outside the original MSA requires an amended filing. Employees must report changes in work location, remote arrangements and employment status to their employers quickly, especially after a layoff or return-to-office order.
Federal and state actions are continuing into the second half of 2026. The First Circuit’s July 24 ruling leaves the fee dispute tied to further court action, while DHS has said it intends to collect the payment if the vacated order returns.
