The US Department of Labor is proposing to reform the wages of foreign specialists employed on an H-B1 work visa. It provides for a salary increase of up to $14,000 per year.
It is proposed to increase the minimum salary for programmers and other holders of valuable specialties, depending on their experience, by 21-33%. The ministry emphasizes that the purpose of the reform is to eliminate the difference in pay between foreigners and Americans performing the same work.
“The changes are designed to eliminate visa abuses caused by employers choosing to replace American workers with low-wage foreigners,” the statement said.
As a reminder, in December, US President Donald Trump introduced a new $100,000 fee that employers must pay when filing new applications for new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. The official goal of the measure is to make it more expensive to use the H-1B program and thereby encourage companies to hire US citizens.