DOL Plan Could Raise H-1B Employers’ Pay Floors Across DOL Wage Levels Before Federal Register

The U.S. Department of Labor cleared a proposed rule on February 23, 2026, that would revise wage levels used for H-1B visas and PERM labor certifications, moving one step closer to a formal public comment process.

For H-1B employers, the move matters because it could raise minimum prevailing wages across DOL wage levels I through IV, reshaping pay requirements for new filings if the proposal becomes final. The full text is not yet public.

Federal Register publication is expected next. Once that happens, the proposal will enter formal rulemaking, giving employers, immigration lawyers and other interested parties a chance to weigh in before the department decides whether to issue a final version.

The proposal cleared Office of Management and Budget review after about two months. Until publication in the Federal Register, its contents remain confidential.

That leaves businesses and attorneys waiting for the exact language while trying to gauge how wide the changes may be. Based on the outline now available, the proposal aims to push minimum wages higher across all four DOL wage levels used in the H-1B and PERM systems.

The department has not yet issued a final wage proposal as of March 2026. Even after publication, the rule would still have to pass through the full notice-and-comment process before any new pay levels could take effect.

Public comment is expected to run for either 30 or 60 days. After that, the Labor Department would still need to draft and publish a final rule and provide either a 30- or 60-day implementation window.

That timeline means no immediate wage change has taken effect from this proposal. But the clearance itself signals that the administration is advancing a plan that could alter how salaries are calculated for foreign workers and employers seeking labor certification.

The pending rule has drawn attention in part because it could resemble a 2021 Trump-era wage-rule approach that restructured the prevailing wage system but was later abandoned. The final text now awaiting publication may or may not track that earlier model, but the current proposal points in the same direction: higher required wages at every level.

Any increase would reach beyond one visa category. H-1B cases depend heavily on prevailing wage calculations, and PERM labor certifications also rely on the same wage-setting framework when employers sponsor workers for permanent residence.

That makes the Federal Register notice the next milestone. It will reveal whether the department proposes modest adjustments or a broader remake of the wage ladder that employers use to classify jobs from entry-level to the most experienced tier.

The wage proposal also arrives after a separate H-1B change already became final for fiscal 2027. USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security replaced the random H-1B cap lottery with a wage-weighted selection system that took effect on February 27, 2026, just before this year’s registration period.

Registration for the FY 2027 cap runs from March 4 to March 19, 2026. Under the new system, employers must identify the DOL Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics wage level tied to each registration, and higher wage levels receive priority over lower ones.

That makes wage classification more consequential even before the Labor Department finishes its wage proposal. A registration at Level IV stands ahead of one at Level III, which stands ahead of Level II and then Level I.

For employers, that is more than an administrative change. It shifts the H-1B cap process away from chance and toward compensation level, giving an advantage to filings tied to higher-paid jobs.

The rule also sharpens the risks around how companies classify wages. If multiple registrations are filed for one beneficiary, the lowest listed wage level controls.

USCIS can also deny or revoke a case for wage inflation or later wage reductions. That gives employers an added reason to match their registration claims closely to the wages they can support when they file a full petition.

Those provisions could influence strategy well before the Labor Department publishes its proposal. Companies now face two related pressures at once: the government has already made wage level central to H-1B selection, and it may soon raise the wage floors attached to those levels.

The registration process itself also costs more. For the FY 2027 season, employers pay a $215 registration fee per entry.

That figure may look small compared with petition costs, but it arrives alongside a second and much larger pressure point for some companies. A separate presidential proclamation issued in September 2025 imposes a $100,000 fee on certain new cap-subject H-1B petitions for beneficiaries outside the United States who need consular processing.

The extra charge does not apply to change-of-status cases. It applies beginning with FY 2026 selections and remains under litigation, with appeals court oral arguments expected February 2026.

Taken together, the $215 registration fee and the $100,000 added charge can alter hiring math for employers deciding where to recruit. Overseas hires who need consular processing become more expensive than candidates already in the country, including international graduates who may qualify through change of status.

That cost difference may push some companies to rethink who they sponsor and when. For employers comparing similar candidates, a U.S.-based worker can become the less expensive choice even before salary levels enter the equation.

The combined effect reaches beyond filing expenses. A wage-weighted cap system already favors higher-paid roles, and a Labor Department rule that lifts DOL wage levels could raise the underlying salary requirements for those same jobs.

That combination points toward a narrower H-1B market. Employers may file fewer registrations and focus more heavily on senior or specialized roles that can justify higher pay and stand a better chance in wage-based selection.

Entry-level positions could face the most pressure. Level I wages already sit at the bottom of the selection hierarchy, and any move to raise prevailing wages across the board would add another hurdle for companies that rely on lower wage classifications.

PERM filings could also feel the effect if the department raises the wage structure there as well. Employers pursuing permanent labor certification would face the same basic question confronting H-1B sponsors: whether a job’s business case still works once the wage floor rises.

For large companies, that may mean shifting resources toward a smaller number of workers in roles with clearer salary support. For smaller businesses, the cost and wage changes may narrow the range of jobs they are willing to sponsor.

Nothing in the current draft record directly labels the Labor Department proposal as a specific political figure’s proposal. Even so, the timing and substance line up with a broader administration direction that favors higher wages and more selective use of H-1B visas.

That direction is already visible in the FY 2027 cap rule. Instead of treating all registrations the same, the government now gives preference to the highest wage levels and builds in penalties for employers that overstate wages during registration or later reduce them.

If the Labor Department follows with higher prevailing wage levels, the two policies would work in tandem. One would prioritize higher-paid cases in the cap process, while the other could raise the wage thresholds needed to support H-1B and PERM filings in the first place.

For immigration lawyers and corporate human resources teams, the unanswered questions now center on the details. They need to see how the department proposes to adjust the wage bands, whether it uses a framework similar to the 2021 rule, and how quickly any final rule would take effect.

Until then, the next step is procedural but consequential. Once the proposal appears in the Federal Register, employers will finally be able to read the full text, measure the effect on hiring plans and decide whether to fight, support or adapt to the changes before the rule moves any further.