A Bill to Reform the H-1B Visa Program
Replaces the H-1B random lottery with a wage-tier-priority allocation.
USCIS shall allocate H-1B visas in order of highest offered wage relative to prevailing wage.
Annual cap unchanged; per-employer concentration capped at 15%.
$22 million for DHS implementation.
DHS rulemaking; DOL wage attestation review.
Mechanical parts, sourced & timed
Use this as your pre-round checklist. Memorize the source citation. Time yourself to the delivery target.
- Bill / Number
- S. 765 — A Bill to Reform the H-1B Visa Program
- Funding source
- $22M for DHS implementation.
- Timeline
- Effective at next H-1B lottery cycle.
- Realistic — DHS proposed similar wage-tier prioritization in 2021.
- Enforcing agency
- USCIS + DOL wage-attestation review.
- Yes — Trump 2020 wage-rule rulemaking confirmed authority (later vacated on APA grounds, not authority).
- Penalty for non-compliance
- USCIS adjudication denials.
- Source citation
- Economic Policy Institute, Costa (2022), 'H-1B Visa Allocation' — epi.org.
- Delivery time (read aloud)
- 1:05 (65s)
Wage-tier prioritization will favor large tech firms over startups and universities.
EPI (2022) modeled this exact concern — Sec. 2's 15% per-employer concentration cap directly prevents large-firm crowding. Universities (Level I wages) are protected by USCIS's separate cap-exempt category, which the bill does not touch.