CT Hiring Faces Federal Rule Changes Heightening Uncertainty

CONNECTICUT employers who rely on foreign-born talent are bracing for a steep new cost after a White House proclamation set a $100,000 one-time fee for many first-time H-1B hires, a change that lawyers and business groups say has already chilled sponsorship plans ahead of the 2026 lottery. The fee, announced without warning and set to take effect September 21, 2025, lands at a time when federal agencies are also tightening checks on work authorization and expanding in-person interviews in green card cases, adding delay and risk for companies that thought they had a stable process.

Nearly 1,500 Connecticut companies filed H-1B visa registrations in fiscal year 2024, and nearly 300 told federal officials they depend heavily on the program.

Local employer perspective: AI Engineers (Middletown)

At AI Engineers in Middletown, where about 350 people build and test software and data tools, roughly 25 workers hold H-1B visas. The company can keep employing those staff under the usual renewal rules, but managers say the new fee changes the math for future recruiting—especially for early-career specialists who may not qualify for other visa options.

Because the proclamation ties payment to admission, employers cannot bring a worker on an initial H-1B without first paying the fee, even if the job has been open for months. Current H-1B holders who travel abroad and reenter the United States 🇺🇸 are not hit by the fee under the guidance released so far.

USCIS guidance and the “national interest exception”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued guidance at the end of October 2025, but it left employers and workers with a long list of unanswered questions, including who can claim a “national interest exception.”

• The exception can waive the payment if the Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, decides a hire poses no security threat and serves the national interest, according to the guidance.
• Immigration lawyers say the wording gives the government wide room to say yes or no.
• It is not yet clear how many workers would qualify or how fast a decision would come.

Employers must still compete in the annual H-1B visa lottery, where demand has often outpaced the 85,000 cap.

Employers’ reactions and hiring decisions

In Hartford and New Haven, employers have been calling their counsel with the same question: do we pause hiring, or do we take a bet on a program that may become too costly to use?

“Most employers won’t pay $100,000 per worker.” — Attorney Pelc-Faszcza, Shipman & Goodwin

Attorney Pelc-Faszcza said the result has been a sharp drop in 2025 filings for permanent labor certification (the first step many companies use to seek employment-based green cards), because firms are waiting to see if temporary visas will still work. Some employers are also choosing not to start any new sponsorship, worried they will spend money on recruitment and legal fees only to lose the employee later.

Political and economic pushback

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has taken the dispute to Washington, writing to Noem to call the rule “arbitrary and capricious” and to argue it will hurt the state’s economy.

Business groups emphasize broader impacts beyond the fee line item:

• Whole teams that cannot be built overnight
• Loss of ecosystems that grow around foreign-born professionals (training pipelines, supplier networks, institutional know‑how)
• Threats to small startups that depend on engineers and scientists to get off the ground

Dustin Nord, an economist with the CBIA Foundation, warned that if employers stop hiring foreign-born professionals, the state could lose these ecosystems.

Sectors most exposed

• Technology firms (computer programmers and software engineers) are among the most exposed.
• University labs and hospitals may be affected as they compete with Boston and New York for global talent.
• Health care providers already struggle with doctor and nurse shortages; visa delays and quotas compound staffing problems.
• Entrepreneurs who came as international students and now seek to launch companies may need employer sponsors, tightening paths for founders creating their own jobs.

Related immigration risks: TPS and other programs

The upheaval is not limited to the H-1B visa. Employers are tracking risks that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) could expire for thousands of workers legally employed in the state.

• As of March 2025, up to 9,460 TPS holders lived in Connecticut.
• Many are Haitians whose protections are set to end February 3, 2026.
• If TPS ends, these workers could become undocumented and unable to work, and employers who keep them on payroll could face penalties.

Immigration attorney Bucin has urged employers to plan early so workers are not pushed into sudden job loss and the fear of detention or deportation.

Procedural changes stretching timelines

Federal procedural shifts are increasing delays for people already in the pipeline:

• Employers that once completed many green card cases on paper are now seeing mandatory in-person interviews for all applicants, a change from the pre-2025 practice where interviews were often waived.
• Human resources staff report:
  • More time away from work for employees
  • More travel to field offices
  • Greater uncertainty about when a worker can move from temporary status to permanent residence

For families, delayed interviews can hold up a spouse’s ability to work or a child’s access to college aid, even when the employer has complied with all rules.

Seasonal labor (H-2A and H-2B) modernization rules

Connecticut employers who use seasonal labor programs face a thicker paper trail under 2025 “modernization” rules for H-2A (farm) and H-2B (non-farm seasonal) work. Key requirements include:

• Public disclosure of recruiters’ names and contact details
• Written agreements with any agent used in the U.S. 🇺🇸 or abroad
• Reports on U.S. worker recruitment that must be kept for three years
• Must keep hiring qualified U.S. workers until 50% of the work period has passed
• Report terminations within two days
• Pay the Adverse Effect Wage Rate to domestic workers in similar roles

State officials said employers with questions have been contacting the Connecticut labor unit by email:
– [email protected]
– [email protected]

These employers are trying to match federal paperwork with local hiring rules.

State-level changes and compliance timing

• A new state anti-discrimination protection for victims takes effect October 1, 2025.
• Paid sick leave began January 1, 2025.

Those programs now accept workers from any country because an eligibility list was removed, but employers still must file through the federal FLAG system and meet tight deadlines (typically 75 to 60 days before the date of need) using the Labor Department’s forms:

Connecticut’s Department of Labor Foreign Labor Certification Unit continues to handle:

• Job orders
• CTHires postings
• U.S. worker referrals
• Housing inspections

Attorneys say that workload may rise as federal rules multiply.

Ongoing monitoring and resources

For the H-1B visa itself, employers are watching for more updates on the proclamation fee and exceptions. USCIS posts official program information at the agency’s H-1B page: USCIS H-1B.

The mix of new fees, stricter checks, and shifting paperwork has led many Connecticut employers to delay hires they would have made in a normal year, according to analysis by VisaVerge.com. Meanwhile, the state’s 2025 workplace laws add compliance tasks but do not directly target foreign workers.