House Republicans Propose 3-Year H-1B Pause and $200,000 Salary Rule in 2026

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Rep. Eli Crane, Republican of Arizona, introduced the End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026 on April 22, 2026, proposing a three-year H-1B pause on new visas and a broad rewrite of the program that includes a $200,000 minimum annual salary for every sponsored job.

As of April 24, 2026, the measure remains a House proposal. It has no Senate action, no committee referral, and no presidential signature, and current H-1B, OPT, H-4, and employment-based green-card rules remain in effect.

Crane’s proposal would stop new H-1B visa issuance for three years. After that, it would cut the annual cap from 65,000 to 25,000, eliminate exemptions including the master’s cap, replace the lottery with wage-based selection, and require employers to certify that no qualified U.S. worker is available.

The bill also would require employers to certify that they have made no layoffs in the past year and will make none in the next year. It would bar multiple H-1B jobs, prohibit third-party staffing, end Optional Practical Training for F-1 students, ban H-4 dependents, and block H-1B holders from adjusting status to permanent residency.

Those changes would fall hardest on Indian professionals, who receive about 70-75% of H-1Bs. The visa is used widely in software, engineering, data science, healthcare, research, education, finance, and architecture, and Indian nationals form the largest pool of beneficiaries.

The proposed $200,000 salary rule would narrow that pool sharply. Many entry-level software jobs, university research roles, analyst positions, accounting jobs, teaching posts, and healthcare work outside the most expensive cities would fall below that threshold.

Large technology firms, finance companies, artificial intelligence employers, and specialized engineering businesses would sit closest to the bill’s target model. Smaller companies, startups, hospitals, universities, and consulting firms would face a much harder sponsorship path.

The measure reaches beyond wages. It would disrupt a common route used by foreign students who arrive on F-1 visas, work through OPT or STEM OPT, enter the H-1B lottery, and later pursue an employment-based green card.

Ending OPT would change the post-graduation path for international students immediately if the bill ever became law. OPT allows F-1 students to work after finishing a degree, and STEM OPT extends that period for eligible science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduates.

Removing that option would leave many graduates with fewer ways to stay and work in the United States after school. A direct jump into another status would become necessary.

Family migration also sits at the center of the bill. H-4 status currently lets spouses and children of H-1B workers live in the United States, and H-4 employment authorization gives some spouses the right to work.

A ban on dependents would make the route far less workable for married professionals and workers with children. It would also change the calculation for employers recruiting experienced workers who expect family accompaniment as part of a long-term move.

The permanent residency provision reaches even further. Many Indian professionals already face long waits in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories, and a bar on adjustment of status from H-1B to permanent residency would cut off a pathway that has long linked temporary skilled work to settlement in the United States.

Rosemary Jenks of a restrictionist group supported the bill and said, “This bill makes that a reality by reducing the caps and significantly raising the costs, ending OPT, prohibiting adjustment of status, and banning third-party employment.”

Current law remains unchanged. H-1B workers do not need to leave the United States because of this bill, students do not lose OPT because of this bill, H-4 dependents do not lose status because of this bill, and employers can continue to use the existing H-1B process unless Congress passes the measure and a president signs it into law.

The current framework still includes the 85,000 annual cap, made up of 65,000 regular visas and a 20,000 master’s exemption. The FY2027 process also still uses the weighted lottery that favors higher wage levels, with Level IV receiving 4 entries, Level III receiving 3, Level II receiving 2, and Level I receiving 1.

Premium processing, transfers, extensions, and AC21 portability also remain available under existing rules. Employers can continue filing labor condition applications at Department of Labor prevailing wage levels, and applicants can proceed under the rules already in place.

Crane’s bill, though still far from enactment, offers a clear picture of the direction some Republicans want for high-skilled immigration. The proposal favors fewer visas, higher pay thresholds, tighter labor market tests, and less flexibility for employers and foreign workers.

Its structure also targets practices long criticized by restrictionists, especially third-party staffing and the use of H-1B programs by large outsourcing firms. A wage-based system paired with a universal $200,000 floor would shift the program away from volume hiring and toward a smaller set of premium-paid jobs.

That change would be especially sharp in sectors where legitimate H-1B salaries often fall well below $200,000. Universities, teaching hospitals, nonprofit research institutions, and regional employers would face a system built around compensation levels more common in top-tier private industry than in public or academic work.

Indian students and workers would feel that shift across several stages at once. The proposed end of OPT would hit graduates first, the three-year H-1B pause would close the next step, the ban on H-4 would alter family plans, and the block on adjustment would remove the usual bridge into permanent status.

Employers and applicants do not face any immediate filing change because the bill has not advanced beyond introduction. FY2027 registrations, prevailing wage LCAs, extensions, and status changes continue under current law.

Anyone with a pending or future case still benefits from keeping immigration records current, including I-94 records, approval notices, pay records, university documents, and employment letters. Those papers often matter most when policy debate turns into enacted law months or years later.

Congress now holds the next move. Until lawmakers take it, the End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026 stands as a proposal that sketches one of the most restrictive rewrites of the program in years, while the existing H-1B system, OPT rules, H-4 status, and green-card pathways continue unchanged.